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Eli Jones. 




Sybil Jones. 



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Eli and Sybil Jones 



THEIR LIFE AND WORK. 



BY H^ 

RUFUS M. JONES. 



" Our wills are ours, we know not how; 
Our wills are ours, to make them Thine." 

In Memo7iam. 




PHILADELPHIA : 

PORTER & COATES, 







Copyright, 1889, 
BY PORTER & GOATES. 



' / <0 /. 



TO - . 
THE SWEET AND SHINING MEMORY 

OF 

PLINY EARLE CHASE, 

WHOSE SCHOLARSHIP AND CHRISTIAN MANHOOD INSPIRED 

YOUNG MEN TO RICHER AND PURER LIVES, AND 

WHO AS TEACHER POINTED STUDENTS 

TO THE 

THIS BOOK 

IS • 

Apfectionatbly Inscribed 

BY HIS PUPIL. 



PREFACE. 



In our busy and material lives we all need to be re- 
minded at times that there have been and still are 
among us those who have deadened love of self, whose 
struggle on earth, far from being to amass any kind of 
treasures, is to bring before as many human beings as 
possible the great plan of salvation, the means of eleva- 
tion from degradation to lofty Christian individuality, 
and the source of a power and a love which are making 
all things new in proportion as submission is given 
thereto. 

We are not always conscious of the strength exerted 
around us by seemingly trivial forces, but their work 
is no less important in the development of the globe 
than the violent upheavals which overawe us by their 
stupendous might. So, often, quiet lives extend a wider 
permanent influence for the welfare of man than do 
those of men and women who receive the unstinted 
praise of their contemporaries. 

Eli and Sybil Jones have done valuable service, and 
have lived lives full of teaching to those who wish to 



6 PREFACE. 

enter upon a course of devoted obedience to the same 
Master. I have prepared this sketch of their lives and 
work from the love which I feel for them, and in the 
hope that it will interest and profit others. I am con- 
scious that the stamp of youth is on the work, but I am 
certain that it has been undertaken and accomplished 
in the spirit of sincerity. 

The visit to Liberia was wonderful in many ways, 
and should have been published after their return, so 
that their work might have brought forth more decided 
fruit. The letters from Palestine an4 Syria were written 
for the Friends' Review by Eli Jones and Ellen Clare 
Miller (since Pearson). Extracts have been chosen 
to give their descriptions of the country and the 
nature of their work there. 

The book has been prepared in the midst of other 
work, and that must in part be the apology for its im- 
perfections. Having as a young man received invaluable 
help from these two Friends, and feeling that their words 
and lives have done much to throw light on the true 
path which broadens into the "highway of holiness," 
it is my hope that this simple recital may in a measure 
repay what I owe them and find a place of usefulness 
in the world. 

3d mo, 13, 1889, Friends' School, Providence. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Early Years 9 

CHAPTER n. 
At School and at Home 18 

CHAPTER HI. 
Marriage with Sybil Jones 27 

CHAPTER IV. 
First Visit 40 

CHAPTER V. 
East, West, and South 54 

CHAPTER VI. 
Voyage to Liberia 60 

CHAPTER VII. 
Work in England and Ireland 108 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Norway, Germany, and Switzerland 127 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

PAGE 

Winter in the South of France 141 

CHAPTER X. 
In the Maine Legislature 160 

CHAPTER XI. 
In Washington 169 

CHAPTER XII. 
Mission-Work 185 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Letters from Syria 199 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Second Visit to the Holy Land 251 

CHAPTER XV. 
Sybil Jones : her Life-Work and Death 268 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Alone at Home 285 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Later Visits to the East .... 292 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
As A Friend 299 

CHAPTER XIX. 
His Place as a Worker 307 



ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY YEARS. 



" Man is the nobler growth our soil supplies. 
And souls are ripened 'neath our northern skies." 

The man whose early life was passed in the isola- 
tion of primeval forests, and who grew to manhood 
carrying on an unceasing struggle to turn the rough, 
uncultivated soil into productive fields, gardens, and 
pasture-lands, has worked into his life something 
which no coming generation can inherit or acquire. 
He has missed the broad culture of the schools and 
universities, he cannot gain the intellectual skill which 
long study gives, but he has had a training which 
lays a foundation for the keenest judgment and for 
prompt decision in complicated circumstances, and 
his soul in solitude has taken in truths of God which 
often escape men lost in the tumultuous world of bus- 
iness and pleasure. The men who were born during 
the first quarter of a century after our national life 
began have nearly all been characterized by special 
traits which will perhaps not appear again in the 
more developed growth of the nation. It has not 
astonished us to see a man leave his little cottage 

9 



lO ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

after twenty-five years of toil and go through all the 
grades of honor, reach a position from which he 
could hardly go higher, and finally depart from a life 
unspotted, respected by mankind. 

But in this development there is no chance : he 
mounts by a law which, if we knew it, is as unvariable 
as that of gravitation. The powers of the mind and 
soul seek a field in which they may be put to work at 
profit. It cannot be uninteresting to follow the course 
of a man who has shown — at least to those who have 
known him well — that there was something in him of 
value to the world. In measuring the worth of any 
man, we must not be dazzled by the glare of earthly 
glory, but calmly inquire what he has done that has 
built itself into other lives, and we must look beyond 
outward things to see in how far he has been the hon- 
ored tool of the Supreme Worker. 

The family of Jones is a large one, and its genea- 
logical table would make a long story. Welsh John 
succeeded Welsh John, and was called John's son until 
time wore the name down to Jones. Generation after 
generation they held their place and did their work 
among the Welsh hills, until one of them was called 
upon to steer the Mayflower with its precious load to 
Plymouth. Eli Jones writes in a letter dated ist mo. 
9th, 1888: "I have been reading Bonvard's Plymouth 
and the Pilgrims^ from which I learn that Isaac Robin- 
son, son of the Rev. John Robinson, pastor of the 
Pilgrim Fathers, was an early settler at Plymouth, and 
that he became a Quaker. Our grandmother Jepson 
was a Robinson, and, for aught I know, great-great- 
great-grandniece of this very Isaac Robinson. The 



EARLY YEARS. II 

captain of the Mayflower was a Jones. With him we 
claim kindred, and that claim is readily allowed. ' Now, 
if our great-great-great-grandsire was the venerable 
patriarch who led in prayer and gave the memorable 
parting charge * to the Pilgrims, and if his son, our 
great-great-greatuncle, was, as history relates, a trading 
man in the colony and a '* convinced Friend," it is cer- 
tainly fitting that we should take a lively interest in 
what occurred among our kin in 1620." 

Much later, after many settlements in different parts 
of New England had failed, and the Pilgrim and Puritan 
colonies were in prosperous growth, three brothers 
bearing the name of Jones came to this continent. One 
of them found a forest home on the bank of the 
Androscoggin River, six miles from Brunswick, in the 
township of Durham and District of Maine. Quite a 
large number of friends collected here, and a meeting- 
house was built not far away. There was a large 
Friends' meeting at Deering, near Portland, and the 
name of Jones was common among its members. The 
monthly and quarterly meetings at each place were 
frequently visited by Friends from the other, necessitat- 
ing a foot-journey of fully forty miles through almost 

* John Robinson's charge is as follows : " I charge you, before God 
and his blessed angels, that ye follow me no further than ye have seen 
me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more truth yet to break 
forth out of his holy word. I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition 
of the Reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and 
will go at present no further than the instruments of their reformation. 
Luther and Calvin were great and shining lights in their times, yet they 
penetrated not into the whole counsel of God. I beseech you remember 
it — 'tis an article of your Church covenant — that you be ready to receive 
whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of 
God." 



12 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

pathless woods. The house is still standing in which 
Abel Jones was born. He determined to leave his 
home and go farther north. He travelled on horseback 
up the Kennebec River as far as Vassalboro', and then 
rode ten miles east to the north-eastern end of what is now 
China Lake, in earlier times often called the " Twelve- 
mile Pond," because it is twelve miles from Augusta, 
the State capital. His young bride, Susannah Jepson, 
rode on horseback from North Berwick, a distance of 
one hundred and fifteen miles. She was attended by 
her brother alone, and brought only what a pair of 
saddlebags could hold. Here in a little house, in the 
year 1807, their first child was born and named Eli. 
A letter was at once sent to the young child's grand- 
father and grandmother at Durham. The letter came 
to the nearest post-station, twelve miles away, and was 
taken in charge by an elderly Friend who lived there. 
He volunteered to start out at once to carry the letter 
to its destination, thinking it might contain valuable 
information. As he listened to its contents at the end 
of his journey he made the significant remark, " Is that 
all there is in it ?" and jogged back home. 

One's first thought would be that if a child was to be 
brought up in the Maine woods, it would make very 
little difference in what part of the State the spot hap- 
pened to be; but it is not at all so. As a young life is 
very susceptible to outward scenes and every-day 
events, we can hardly estimate the moulding influence 
of little things. 

The life of the few families in the early history of 
China would be exceedingly interesting if we only had 
a graphic sketch from the pen of one of its settlers. 



EARLY YEARS. 1 3 

Owning the acres they cleared and tilled and the houses 
in which they dwelt, they called no man master, but 
they bowed in reverence before their heavenly King 
and obeyed His commandments. They did their day's 
work week after week, little thinking that a generation 
would come which would wish to follow the story of 
their trials and triumphs, their joys and sorrows ; and 
now almost all that is left us is the inherited strength 
from their sturdy lives and a few stories of their sufferings. 

Without doubt, nothing in nature had more influence 
on the bent of Eli Jones's mind than China Lake and 
its beautiful shores. A boy placed on the bank of a 
lake stretching off seven miles becomes inheritor to a 
domain more vast than the acres of water it contains. 
He feels that he owns so much of this world's glory, 
and this feeling of ownership lifts him out of the com- 
mon, dull round of life. Year by year he owns more 
in proportion as his soul expands and he sees more 
of God's work and God's love in the painted sunsets 
beyond the western shore and in the forests above and 
below the placid waters. No one who has not experi- 
enced it can appreciate the worth of a lake to a boy. 
It is not simply because he can fish there, or can swim 
there, or can make a rude boat and so float on its sur- 
face. That is its chief worth to the thoughtless boy, 
but it was not all to the keenly perceptive child who 
was father to the man Eli Jones. It was his great play- 
mate whom he loved. It was at the same time his 
teacher, whose *' various language " spoke a Father's 
presence and His love. 

It is very monotonous toil changing a rough forest 
to a productive farm, but a youth becomes a familiar 



14 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

friend to stumps, hillocks, and rocks ; to him the mounds 
are Indian graves, the tall stones mark the final resting- 
places of mighty chiefs, and his imagination fills the 
round of work with marvellous scenes. Very many, 
doubtless, see only their work and the fruit of it, but 
there are a few who see mysteries and learn lessons 
wherever they are placed, so that monotony is changed 
to endless variety. Eli Jones was one of those boys 
who make gain from ethereal things. 

The spot which Abel Jones chose for his home had 
many of the characteristics of a scene in Maine. Hills 
were backed by other hills, and not far in from the lake 
was a mile-long "horseback."* The trees were not 
pigmies in those days, but giant oaks and pines, 

" Whose living towers the years conspired to build, 
AVhose giddy tops the morning loved to gild." 

There were dense forests of cedar, and the scattered 
bass-woods made the whole place fragrant in the spring. 
Never had an axe swung in these solitudes, and the 
mighty power of the ages was felt as these stout pines 
met the breeze. It was no small privilege to be cano- 
pied with such a tent as their meeting tops made. 

" WTioso walks in solitude 
And inhabiteth the wood, 
Choosing light, wave, rock, and bird 
Before the money-loving herd, — 
Into that forester shall pass, 
From these companions, power and grace. 
On him the light of star and moon 
Shall fall with purer radiance down ; 

* These ridges are very abundant in Maine, and are supposed to owe 
their origin to glacial action. 



EARLY YEARS. 1$ 

All constellations of the sky 

Shed their virtue through his eye. 

Him Nature giveth for defence 

His formidable innocence. 

The mounting sap, the shells, the sea, 

All spheres, all stones, his helpers be." 

China had first been settled in 1774 by a family of 
Clarks. There were four brothers, two of whom were 
Friends. They cut the first tree that a white man's 
axe had ever felled in the township, and began to sur- 
vey the land for homes. The two Friends chose the 
eastern and the others the western side of the lake. 
Life in the midst of the Maine forest implied struggle, 
and these families were courageous. No report of 
possible gold-mines or other hidden wealth drew them 
and those who followed them, but the desire to seek 
out quiet homes for themselves and their children 
where the temptations to a life of uselessness would be 
few. Trials they expected, and they were not spared. 
It was a hand-to-hand contest with want. At one time 
a cow was nearly the only valuable possession of the 
little company, and this was accidentally shot for a deer. 
The men went often ten miles through the woods, by 
the aid of " spotted" or "blazed" trees, to get their corn 
ground. We are told that in one case the mother 
was forced to put stones, in lieu of potatoes, in the hot 
ashes to induce her crying hungry children to go to 
bed until they should be called, and often the potatoes 
which had been planted were dug up to be eaten. 
Indians and the wild animals were around them, con- 
tinually causing fear. In a cove at the south-western 
shore of the lake is a large heart, called the ^* Indian's 



1 6 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

heart," cut in a huge boulder, and in spring nearly- 
covered by water. This marks the encampment of a 
tribe of Indians naturally friendly to their white neigh- 
bors, but exceedingly treacherous. On one occasion 
they visited the settlers in a body, and while the latter 
were unsuspiciously entertaining them they threw 
water on the guns of the white men, and only the 
darkness of the night saved these from destruction. 

Gradually one family after another was added to the 
community, and as they all came for the same purpose, 
the settlement was composed of strong characters. 
These farmers had the idea that it should not be the 
chief aim of those who till the soil to grow rich, or to 
fill the market with choice vegetables, or to gain an 
easy livelihood, but rather to send out from their house- 
holds sons and daughters marked by strength of cha- 
racter and able to do manly and womanly work in 
the various spheres of the world. Their visible work- 
field may have seemed narrow and roughly hedged in, 
but they felt the needs of the future, and did their best 
to raise a tower of strength in the land by properly 
training their successors. The horizon which shuts in 
their real domain expands as the times grow riper. 

The first Friends' meeting in China was held about 
1803, in a private house two and a half miles from 
the south end of the lake. Abel Jones was mar- 
ried to Susannah Jepson in this house in 1806, and 
about seven years later a meeting-house was built, to 
which Eli was taken even before it was wholly finished. 
This building was heated by a wood-fire under an iron 
kettle, and in every particular it was plain and rough ; 
but no more sincere praises to the Lord have risen 



EARLY YEARS. 1 7 

through the arches of marvellously wrought cathedrals 
than in this forest meeting-house. Eli Jones's grand- 
father on his mother's side was the first acknowledged 
minister in this meeting. Eli first heard the gospel 
preached in this house, and here he saw the occasional 
visitors from afar. Each year, which added its natural 
increase to the boy's stature, was marking a no less 
evident growth of mind and vigor of spirit. His 
mother taught him that " serving God and keeping His 
commandments was the whole duty of man." He was 
shown by the quiet example of both parents that 
honest work in the right spirit is an essential part of 
pure and undefiled religion, while the lives of Joseph, 
Samuel, David, and Daniel were put before him, show- 
ing him the justness of God's dealing in the different 
ages, both in rewarding righteousness and in punishing 
unrighteousness. Those heroes of faith of the Old 
Testament made a deep impression on him, as they 
must on every young person whose mind is not cor- 
rupted by the unnatural and impossible fictions of the 
present day; but the pages which told of Christ's work 
and words. His life and death, were so fixed in his 
mind and heart that the great Master early began to 
shape and strengthen the character of His chosen 
disciple. 



CHAPTER II. 

AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME. 

" My mind, aspire to higher things — 
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust." 

Philip Sidney. 

The opportunities for study in China were not enough 
to satisfy a boy with even a moderately strong desire 
for knowledge. Books were as rare as in the days 
before John Gutenberg, and Eli Jones has often said 
that if he had been asked ten times a day what he most 
wished for, he would have answered each time, Books. 
The fact that he longed so to read, and that he was 
almost entirely confined to the Bible, resulted in his 
becoming thoroughly familiar with the different parts 
of that great Book. It furnished him his poetry, his 
history, and his ethics; it was his reading-book and 
his spelling-book. Joseph in his coat of many colors 
and David with his sling were as much acquaintances 
of his as were the few boys he played with. David's 
lament for Jonathan and Deborah's song of triumph, 
the spiritual melody of the Psalms and Isaiah's 
rapt words, made him feel the power of Hebrew 
poetry, while the New Testament was helping him to 
know the manliness and divinity of Christ. What 
boys acquired in those days was well acquired, and if 
they did not have as much learning, they often were 

18 



AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME. I9 

imbued with a better learning than at the end of the 
same century. It is certain that EH had the spirit to 
learn, and did what he could to lay a proper foundation. 

While he was still very young he came with his 
father and mother to live at the south end of the lake, 
and there was built the house which has been the birth- 
place and home of so many of the Jones family. Dur- 
ing the years of political excitement and fierce war 
against the mother-country — the years between 18 12 
and 181 5 — hardly a rumor of the outside strife had 
penetrated the long line of unbroken forests. While 
men were dying daily to force England to respect 
American rights, and while Europe was united to 
crush Napoleon, the citizens along China Lake were 
building brick-kilns to make material for the chimneys 
of their houses, doing their every-day work without 
knowing, perhaps, that Bonaparte was in the world, and 
having no fear that a war-cloud might break over them. 
Thus the future lover of peace dwelt in peace, and he 
did not need to learn the horrors of war by experience 
to hate it. 

A schoolhouse was built just over the hill north of 
his home, and thither he went to be taught ; but the 
terms were very short, and the teachers only knew a 
few first principles, though they faithfully labored to fix 
these in the minds of their pupils. One teacher, after 
working two days on a problem in long division, gave 
the result to Eli Jones, saying, " I know that is right now, 
but I can't explain it to you or tell you why it is done 
that way." Eli had an exalted opinion of one of the 
teachers who held sway in this little house, and has 
often spoken of him with affection. He spent a whole 



20 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

winter teaching his older pupils to spell ordinary- 
English words correctly, and took Eli through the 
spelling-book until all the words in it were fixed visibly 
in his brain, where they have since remained ; and in 
all his teaching since spelling has been one of the 
branches which was not elective in the course. 

During the winter of 1827 he had the benefit of the 
charitable fund at the Friends' School in Providence, 
R. I. He divided the half year with another scholar, so 
that he had only three months, but he was prepared to 
make the most of this opportunity. He took ship- 
passage from Bath to Providence. The first night after 
his departure from home his mother passed in walking 
the floor and worrying for her boy tossed on the sea, as 
she supposed, but he was quietly sleeping all the while 
in his berth on the ship, which had anchored in the 
harbor on account of fog, and sailed the next morning. 

Friends' School, which had been opened at Ports- 
mouth in 1784, was in its second organization less than 
ten years old when he came to it, but it was firmly 
established, and was often visited by its foster-father, 
the venerable Moses Brown. The institution consist- 
ed of one tall, massive brick building looking toward 
the south, and two lower transverse wings, to which 
successive additions have been made to meet the 
needs of the times. In front and rear of the buildings 
were extensive grounds divided into yards, lawns, 
and groves of oak and chestnut trees, then in their 
youth, now majestic with the increase of half a cen- 
tury. Beyond the boundary of the school property, 
toward the river which Roger Williams had crossed in 
his search for a peaceful abode, were great forests of 



AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME. 21 

ancient maples, oaks, and chestnuts, with hillsides of 
towering hemlocks, and swamps where the boys, who 
did not study botany, sought for little beyond the 
extermination of a marvellous race of black snakes. 
From the cupola of the middle building was a prospect 
of wide extent, showing to the new-comers the whole 
State at a glance, and placing before their eyes the 
waters of Narragansett Bay. 

Enoch Breed — called universally " Cousin Enoch " — 
was at the head of the school as superintendent, while 
his wife, " Cousin Lydia," was the matron. She was 
a sweet, lovely lady, and her presence was felt by all 
in the school. ** Cousin Enoch " was not an educator, 
but he was a kind, fatherly man, a shrewd manager, a 
good farmer, and an exemplary character. He always 
wore his broad-brimmed hat, and was never seen outside 
of his private room with it off; the boys looked upon 
him as their patriarch, and, indeed, it is said that on 
one occasion he was asked if he were Methuselah, and 
dryly answered, " No, I am Enoch," 

Isaiah Jones taught the mathematics, and was con- 
sidered a very successful teacher. The other instruc- 
tors were David Daniels, who taught what Latin was 
then required ; George Jones, Moses Mitchel, Abigail 
Pierce, and Mary Almy. 

Reading, spelling, and grammar were the only classes 
which recited ; all the other work of the school was 
done privately, each student being independent and 
going as slowly or rapidly as his brain-power and 
ambition prescribed. Mathematics was the important 
branch, and each boy copied problems and their solu- 
tions into interminable copy-books. The school-room 



22 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

was small and lighted by tin oil lamps on the desks. 
In this room there were often one hundred and fifty- 
boys : a number of these were appointed as monitors 
to report all disorderly conduct to the teachers. 

The meetings were held in the building in an upper 
chamber, where boys and girls and teachers sat in the 
same room. These were generally silent meetings, 
but occasionally William Almy or Doctor Tobey came 
to give them counsel. 

Among the schoolmates of Eli Jones were James N. 
Buffum, since ex-mayor of Lynn, Mass., and Peter Neal, 
also since ex-mayor of the same city, now on the com- 
mittee of the school. The latter relates that Eli Jones 
received the "christening" always given new boys in 
those days, and his remark on that occasion was cha- 
racteristic of him. The old students were put in line at 
night on the play-ground, and among them stood the 
newcomer. A "dummy" with swollen cheeks came to 
each boy in turn, and was answered by all, "Um!" 
until he reached Eli, who, as instructed beforehand, 
said, " Squirt," when suddenly his face was filled 
with water. Instead of the attack which the boys 
expected, Eli quietly remarked, " That was cleverly 
done!' Peter Neal remarks that if he had been known 
as he was a month later, he would have received no 
christening. 

His schoolmates relate that he was a good boy, and 
that he was generally liked. In his youth he was 
much troubled by an impediment in his speech, and 
he early resolved to remedy it as much as possible. 
He was the only one of scholars or teachers in the 
boarding-school who was accustomed to speak in the 



AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME. 23 

Friends' meeting. He had already begun to speak at 
home, and, notwithstanding the trial which it was to 
him as a young man, he stood up among the boys and 
forced his voice to say what was in his heart. Few 
who heard him on those occasions are alive now, but 
these few remember how it impressed them to see one 
who played with them on the campus and sat with them 
in classes speak so earnestly before them and all the 
rows of solemn Friends. They respected his message, 
for his life was pure. 

He had a dread of the nursery, and resolved to keep 
out of it, but he was taken with typhoid fever, and 
after vainly fighting it off at last succumbed to be 
doctored in the vigorous way of those times. He had 
a long, hard siege of it, and lost a number of weeks 
from his brief term; but this short break from his 
usual life and the intercourse with cultivated teachers 
and scholars could not fail to leave its impress. It 
lifted his aspirations and widened somewhat the course 
of his thoughts, giving an impulse to hfs future life 
more valuable than mere knowledge. While it is to 
be regretted that so short a time was given him for sat- 
isfying his longings for a higher education, we rejoice 
that he knew so well how to school himself and to be 
a teacher to himself He was a good mathematician, 
and his copy-books show that he was no tyro at figures ; 
but he affirms that his drill in the old spelling-book 
was of far greater worth to him than his higher math- 
ematics. 

When he reached home from Providence, he found 
a young brother twenty-one years younger than him- 
self This was Edwin, the youngest of the family of 



24 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

eleven, and to him fell the homestead and the care of 
the father, mother, and sister Peace. 

There is still standing a little red building, about one 
mile from South China, called the Chadwick School- 
house, in which many a man has laid his ABC founda- 
tion. Its external and internal appearance would not 
lead one to suppose that this was a " temple of learn- 
ing " or any other kind of a temple, but not a i&^ 
successful men look back to it with a feeling of rever- 
ence, and the near presence of a yard where many 
others of its day tenants of earlier time lie under toppling 
stones, just carved enough to tell the names and some 
of the virtues of those beneath, gives somewhat of a 
sacredness to the little building. It was in this house 
that Eli first opened his mouth to speak in the assem- 
blies of the people. He was quite young, less than 
fourteen, when he arose in a meeting in that house and 
said, " Behold the Bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to 
meet him." On their way home his grandfather asked 
who had spoken in the " body of the meeting," but the 
grandmother checked her husband with a slight nudge 
and answered the question by a motion of her finger. 
A few years ago a very aged man came up to Eli Jones 
and said, " I remember the first time you ever spoke in 
meeting, and I know what you said." From this time 
on he was often heard briefly in religious assembhes, 
and he was encouraged by older Friends to be faithful 
in delivering his message when impressed. 

After his return from Providence School, EH Jones 
began to be a definite worker for the bettering of the 
world, and the seeds he then planted have brought 
forth the blade and the ear, and now the full corn is in 



AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME. 2 5 

the ear. He and a few others organized a temperance 
society of which he was the secretary; and many 
meetings were held in China and the adjoining town. 
Essays were written and speeches were deHvered 
against the use of intoxicating drinks. This organiza- 
tion was made two years before the Washingtonian 
movement was started, and its influence in the State 
was great, aiding undoubtedly the enactment of the 
" Maine Law " which has made itself felt in all our 
States and in many of the other countries. 

The same winter he was one of a small company 
which met to start a public library. They formed a 
successful library association. Books soon began to 
come in, and from that day Eli Jones has not wanted 
for reading matter. With few exceptions, when absent 
doing higher work, he has attended the meetings of 
this association and aided it by his zeal and counsel. 

It is a matter of interest to notice a young man who 
had just barely become a full-fledged .citizen turning 
his mind so strongly toward enlightening those near 
him, and that, too, in a community where he did not 
have the example of any predecessor to arouse him and 
spur him on. He was travelling a new road, and build- 
ing as he went. The secret of it all was that there 
was something in him which forbade rest and inaction. 
In early years he saw fully that the part of man which 
ate and slept was not the important part, but that there 
was something within him which could span space and 
time, and which was spoken to by the whisperings of 
the Spirit of the eternal Ruler. 

At the present time biographies are within the reach 
of all boys, and they can see how great men and good 



26 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

men have made their Hves complete — how they shaped 
their course, what goal they set before them, and what 
lifted them to the mark. In his youth, Eli Jones had 
almost no possibility of knowing from the record of 
other lives how best to build in youth. His father was 
a righteous man, whose actions were living epistles, and 
his mother was a living, teaching Christian. From 
both he inherited much and learned much ; but " there 
is a divinity that shapes our ends," and, once in the 
hands of the great Potter, there is a marvellous shaping 
of the clay. Biographies, all good books, and direc- 
tions in the right way are helps, but submission to be 
trained and then used by the Master Builder, is infinitely 
more of a help in the making of a right man. 

Great men of all ages have recognized a power, a 
daimon, an ecstasy — or, better, a Spirit — inspiring them, 
urging them to seek truth and beauty, to live lives of 
truth and beauty and goodness, and to shun as their 
greatest enemy everything that distorts and ties weights 
to their flying feet. Everything teaches the man who 
is to be wise ; but most of all the Spirit teaches those 
who give ear unto Him ; and \i any one thing has 
made the life of Eli Jones a success, it is that he 
listened actively to the voice which said, " Give me 
thine heart." 



CHAPTER III. 

MARRIAGE WITH SYBIL JONES. 

« I see in the world the intellect of man, 
That sword, the energy his subtle spear, 
The knowledge which defends him like a shield- 
Everywhere; but they make not up, I think. 
The marvel of a soul like thine." 

Browning. 

In 1833, Eli Jones was married to Sybil Jones, the 
daughter of Ephraim and Susannah Jones. 

Susannah was the daughter of Micajah Dudley, son 
of Samuel Dudley, a great-grandson of Samuel Dudley 
of Exeter, N. H., the eldest son of Gov. Thomas Dud- 
ley, the pilgrim of Plymouth, said to have been de- 
scended from the lineage of the earls of Leicester. 
Both Sybil Jones's parents and grandparents were 
Friends, and her grandfather and great-grandfather 
Dudley were preachers of fine talents and high 
character. 

Ephraim Jones was a "noble man" and a strong 
character. He was often deeply lost in thought, to 
such an extent that many anecdotes are related of 
his absent-mindedness which are very amusing. He 
did not want in vigor of mind, and he was one of the 
marked men of the town. Some are still alive who 
remember him as he stood up at quarterly meeting 

27 



28 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and took his text, " If thou hast run with the footmen, 
and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou 
contend with horses ? and if in the land of peace, 
wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how 
wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan ?" He was a 
man who left a remembrance behind him, and the 
strength of his life has not been lost. His wife Su- 
sannah lived to the good old age of ninety-four, and 
was loved by all who saw her. " Grandmother Jewel " 
was her name in her old age. Eli's mother, who was 
nearly as old, was also named Susannah, and it was a 
memorable day for the grandchildren when these two 
grandmothers talked together of the olden time. 
" Grandmother Jewel " was very deaf, but otherwise 
she was a vigorous woman as long as she lived, and, 
ripe with years and blessed with the fruit of those 
years, she passed from this world a few months before 
her daughter. 

It is told that when Eli Jones visited Sybil Jones 
with the purpose of asking her to become his life- 
companion, the latter, not suspecting the weight of his 
mission, took down the Bible to read a chapter, as was 
always customary in those days before visitors returned 
home. On this occasion Sybil Jones opened to the 
twentieth Psalm, beginning, " The Lord hear thee in 
the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob 
defend thee, send thee help from the sanctuarj^ and 
strengthen thee out of Zion ; remember all thy offerings 
and accept all thy burnt-sacrifices ; grant thee accord- 
ing to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel." The 
mission was accomplished successfully, and for forty 



MARRIAGE WITH SYBIL JONES. 29 

years the lives of Eli and Sybil Jones were linked 
together by the bonds of deep and pure love, while 
their aims, longings, and desires were merged into the 
one purpose of showing to the world that there is a 
love which transcends all earthly affection, and that 
God's love is an unbroken canopy which shelters the 
races of the round globe. Herein was their love con- 
tinually made more perfect. I may quote as applicable 
to them the beautiful words of Izaak Walton, written 
to express the regard between the saintly George 
Herbert and his wife : " For the eternal Lover of man- 
kind made them happy in each other's mutual and 
equal affections and compliance ; indeed, so happy 
that there never was any opposition betwixt them, 
unless it were a contest which should most incline 
to a compliance with the other's desires. And though 
this begot, and continued in them, such a mutual love 
and joy and content as was no way defective, yet this 
mutual content and love and joy did receive a daily 
augumentation by such daily obligingness to each 
other as still added such new affluences to the former 
fulness of these divine souls as was only improvable 
in heaven." 

Sybil Jones was born at Brunswick, Me., in 1808. 
Her birthplace was very near the early home of Abel 
Jones. Only her youngest years were spent here, but 
she always had a love for her first home, and one of her 
early poems, written at about the age of twenty-one, 
speaks of it with fondness. 

Her early life was spent at Augusta, " which was the 
birthplace of those deep religious impressions that 
formed the motive-power of a life pre-eminently con- 



30 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

secrated to the service of her Redeemer and the 
human race." She often felt that the sermons and 
exhortations to which she listened during her early 
years were not of such a nature as to bring her to a 
saving knowledge of the sacrifice and love of Christ. 
Perhaps too little care was taken in those days to fulfil 
the Lord's command, " Feed my lambs ;" and it is pos- 
sible that our Society would have been more strongly 
built up if those good men who preached zealously to 
edify the Church had done so more effectually by taking 
the little ones by the hand and pointing them to the 
Source of satisfying life. 

A good Methodist minister at Augusta spoke kindly 
to Sybil Jones of her highest welfare, and she was 
very much helped and instructed by him in the way 
of life. She came to realize that she must be born 
again, and she accepted Christ, by whom alone she 
could become a child of God. Her love for the 
Methodists became very strong, and it was a most 
humiliating cross to her to obey her father's will that 
she should show her Quakerism by wearing a Friend's 
plain bonnet. There is a true anecdote which may 
properly be told, since it shows what her will was by 
nature, as we shall see later what power she had 
when it was in harmony with God's will. She was to 
attend China monthly meeting with her father, and he 
insisted that she should wear the "plain" bonnet. His 
request conflicted very much with her determination, 
but it was not possible to move him from his purpose. 
There was no course which could be taken to avoid 
wearing it, but she put it on bottom side up, and rode 
with it so from Augusta to China. But she fortunately 



MARRIAGE WITH SYBIL JONES. 3 1 

saw and felt the simplicity and sincerity of Friends, as 
well as the spirituality of their faith, and she became 
firmly fixed in the belief that to be a true Quaker was 
to be a genuine Christian, a faithful follower of Jesus 
as he and his apostles marked out the road; and I 
must believe that if we all looked to the same source 
for light and guidance, and if we strove as earnestly to 
walk closely in His footsteps as she did, we should 
have little need of apologies and defences for our 
simple faith. 

In 1824-25 she attended the Friends' School at 
Providence, and for the next eight years she was 
engaged in teaching. She felt a deep interest in all 
that concerned her pupils, and it was the beginning 
of her efforts to open to the eyes of the young a new 
world of knowledge, beauty, and truth. One who has 
taught with a heart in the work will never cease to 
look upon children with loving eyes ; and they were 
always the especial objects of her regard irrespective 
of their race or color. * 

While still a teacher her father took her one day 
to attend Sidney monthly meeting, across the Ken- 
nebec River, about twelve miles from China. Lindley 
M. Hoag, then a young man, was at the meeting. He 
felt called to deliver a message to some one in the 
women's meeting, and an opportunity was given him 
to accomplish his purpose. He went to the women's 
side of the house and powerfully and clearly set forth 
the state of mind of some one present, and with pro- 
phetic words he pointed out the future course of this 
young Friend if she should be fully faithful to her 
inward promptings. Sybil Jones knew that he was 



32 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

laying open her heart, and she was much moved. 
When her gift as a minister was acknowledged, and 
she went out to hold meetings, she found Lindley Hoag 
present at the first one she attended, and for some time 
it seemed to her that she could not speak before him ; 
but she overcame the feeling and was well favored to 
speak. This guidance from ministers who were moved 
to speak to her case, and the power given to her to 
declare the condition of others, were strikingly illus- 
trated during her whole life. 

During these years of teaching she was much given 
to writing, and she not only copied many of the poems 
of her favorite authors, but she composed numerous 
poems on various subjects, and wrote short maxims 
for the rule of her conduct and life. It is very strik- 
ing and touching to see how she regarded the brevity 
of life, for almost all that is left of her compositions 
is tinged with thoughts of death and the grave. One 
poem is written *' To Consumption," and she seems 
to have been impressed with the feeling that her days 
were to be few, but she hails with joy the beginning 
of another life and the freedom from the cares and 
troubles of this present world. After saying how soon 
" life's sickly dream " will be over she writes — 

" Oh may my future hours be given 
To peace, to virtue, and to Heaven, 
My hopes retain immortal birth. 
My joys ascend above the earth, 
My steps retrace the path they trod, 
My heart be fixed alone on God !" 

While still young she burned most of her prose and 
poetic compositions, partly because she was so often 



MARRIAGE WITH SYBIL JONES. 33 

forced to read them aloud to company, and very little 
from those years remains. 

The following short poem may be as interesting as 
any, as her early wish here expressed was so perfectly 
fulfilled in the character of her accepted life-com- 
panion : 

*' What ! shall a face, then, win my heart, 

Mere symmetry of form ? 
Such thrilling raptures this impart 

With Iffve my bosom warm ? 
As well might ocean's billow heave 

When not a wind did rise, 
As Fancy thus my heart deceive 

And fix my wandering eyes, 
No; 'tis the beauty of the soul 

That could my bosom fire; 
This would my tenderest thought control, 

And love and truth inspire." 

The thoughts expressed in some of her maxims 
show the bent of her mind, whether they are orig- 
inal or not. For example : " If you are told that an- 
other reviles you, do not go about to vindicate your- 
self, but reply thus : My other faults, I find, are hid 
from him, else I should have heard of them too ;" 
" Fix your character and keep to it, whether alone or 
in company ;" " No man can hurt you unless you 
please to let him ; then only are you hurt when you 
think yourself so." 

Whatever her early attempts may show, Sybil Jones 
was certainly of a highly poetic nature. Her whole 
organism was so delicate that musical tones proceeded 
from her at the slightest touches from within or with- 
out. Melodious words came almost unsummoned to 
3 



34 £LI AND SYBIL JONES. 

her lips as she plead with sinners to come to the 
waters of life and " drink without money and without 
price." John Bright told the present writer that it was 
always a delight to him to listen to her, and that he 
regarded her as a poet of high degree in her thought 
and expression. 

So with her daily duties and her thoughts of life and 
the future she developed from girlhood to womanhood, 
and at the age of twenty-five became the wife of Eli 
Jones. The joy and fruit resulting from their union 
show unmistakably how fully they were suited for 
each other, and they gave each other mutual help and 
inspiration. Their married life was begun at South 
China upon a farm which has since been divided into 
a number of smaller ones. The young wife was very 
careful in her expenditures, and an accurate account 
of all their expenses and their income was minutely 
kept by her. 

The Friends' meeting-house was three miles away at 
Dirigo. Thither they rode through the long, quiet 
woods every First and Fifth day to take their places 
among the rows of Friends waiting upon the Lord. Few 
houses made with hands have received more devoted 
worshippers, and few places have been more hallowed 
by the presence of pure souls met with one purpose, 
that of honoring the Ruler of the universe and learning 
from His Holy Spirit. Here, in the presence of sym- 
pathizing listeners, the voices of these two young Friends 
were often heard, and they were early enrolled among 
the ministers of the Society. The phrase of the early 
Friends was truly fitting in their case: "Their gifts 
were acknowledged." The men and women of China 



MARRIAGE WITH SYBIL JONES. 35 

meeting made it their greatest endeavor to serve God 
acceptably in the path of daily duty and self-denial. 
One by one their beautiful lives have ended ; happily, 
a few of them are yet left as examples, but a Quaker- 
ism — or rather a Christianity — which could round and 
perfect such characters had no earthly origin. China 
meeting at this time did not abound in powerful minis- 
ters, but its members were men and women whose lives 
were transparent and pure. They were "diligent in 
business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," and they 
lived sermons. There has almost always been in this 
community one or two Hymenseuses and Philetuses 
who have drawn creeds for their private guidance and 
who have severely troubled the Friends ; but such dis- 
turbances have generally resulted in the exaltation of 
the true faith, and, as in the natural world the struggle 
to overcome hindrances to growth adds strength and 
vigor, so a wolf in sheep's clothing within the fold in- 
creases the vigilance of the spirit and the dependence 
on the great Shepherd. There were many intricate 
questions now and then arising for discussion which 
gave valuable instruction to the young ministers, and 
they were gradually being prepared for useful service. 
Those of other denominations who know only of a 
training in a theological seminary as a fitting for preach- 
ing and teaching cannot understand how they were 
being taught in this remote country village ; but " by 
the Spirit's finer ear " they were hearing truths of life 
and immortality, and on the Rock they were building 
characters of gold, silver, precious stones. 

Eli Jones was a hard-working man, not only doing 
his farm-work, but at different times owning shares in 



36 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

mills at Albion and in China and assisting in the work 
of running them. After living a few years at South 
China he removed to Dirigo and settled on a farm near 
the Friends' meeting, where he lived until 1886. 



While Eli Jones was in London in 1875 he wrote to 
Sarah Fobey, a lifelong friend of his beloved wife, for 
her recollections of their school-days together, and her 
thoughts as to Sybil Jones's spiritual exercises then 
and since. She wrote from Montreux, Switzerland, as 
follows : 

" My mind is filled with sweet and precious memories 
of the dear one. She and I met at Friends' School in 
Providence in 1825. We met as strangers, but a feeling 
of sympathy which is not easily explained soon drew 
us together, and our intercourse there was the com- 
mencement of one of the most delightful friendships 
that in all this changing scene grew stronger and 
brighter with every passing year. I remember her as 
one of. the most studious pupils in the school, always 
coming to her class with her lessons fully prepared and 
reciting them in a manner that gained the admiration 
of her classmates. She had great love for the beauti- 
ful, and a keen enjoyment of beautiful language whether 
poetry or prose, and committing to memory, as she 
did, with ease, her mind thus early became stored with 
much that was an enjoyment to her in after years. In 
our Scripture lessons we made our own selections, 
hers were always the most beautiful portions of the 
Bible, often from Isaiah and the Psalms, a long chap- 
ter thoroughly committed to memory, and recited in a 



MARRIAGE WITH SYBIL JONES. 37 

manner which showed she appreciated the truths it 
declared. 

" To her schoolmates she was most kind and affection- 
ate, and by her readiness to assist them in their lessons 
and in every way to do them good gained their universal 
love and esteem. 

" She had a great flow of animal spirits, and entered 
with warmth and interest into all our innocent pleasures 
and amusements ; but such was her sense of justice and 
of right that she would never overstep the bounds of 
order nor disobey the regulations of the school. Of 
her religious feeling and experience at that time I 
cannot speak. It was not the custom then, as now in 
our Society, to speak of conversion or to tell what God 
had done for our souls; and I had supposed that it 
was not until after her return home that she gave her 
heart to Jesus and became fully and entirely a child of 
His, ready to do His bidding, and desiring above every 
other consideration to follow Him in the way of His 
leading. How faithfully she did so, going from place 
to place, from city to city, from State to State, finally 
from continent to continent, declaring the unsearchable 
riches of Christ ! One of the most affectionate and lov- 
ing of mothers, she counted nothing too near or too dear 
to part with for His blessed name's sake. 

" How many sinners she has warned ! how many 
inquirers she has pointed to Jesus, the door of hope ! 
how many mourners she has comforted ! She faith- 
fully obeyed the injunction, 'Sow ye beside all waters,' 
and the seed thus sown has taken root, and will con- 
tinue to bear fruit long after we shall have gone to join 
the dear ones who earlier than we have entered into 



38 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

their Master's rest. Who can calculate the amount of 
good that one such life of dedication and devotion has 
accomplished? It seems to me that a faithful record 
of it should be an incentive to others to seek to follow 
her as she followed Christ. To me she was the most 
remarkable woman I have ever met, and I feel it to 
have been a peculiar blessing to have known her so 
long and loved her so well. Now, as I write, * Memory- 
opens the long vista of buried years,' and my heart 
travels through them all. I linger around sunny spots, 
happy hours, days of delight, seasons of sweet spiritual 
communion, in which she related to me the wonderful 
dealings of her heavenly Father toward her, and the 
remarkable manner in which she was often supplied 
with means to accomplish the service she believed He 
required of her — how when there seemed no way for 
her to move He made a way. 

" She always seemed to me to be so spiritually-minded, 
and to live so near her Saviour, as to be led and guided 
in a remarkable manner by Him. I remember her 
when she opened her prospect to go to Europe for the 
last time. She rises before me now, as she has often 
done, as I saw her then. Soon after the meeting of 
ministers and elders assembled Doctor Tobey arose 
and said, 'If there is a subject of particular interest 
and importance to come before the meeting, this 
seems to be the proper time.' 

" She had not expected to present it at that sitting, 
but, as she afterward told me, she said to herself, ' That 
surely means me.' 

"She sat a little, while a feeling of great solemnity 
overspread the meeting. She then arose with the most 



MARRIAGE WITH SYBIL JONES. 39 

beautiful and heavenly expression of countenance, her 
whole soul filled with the engrossing subject, and with 
a grace and elegance of manner of which she was 
entirely unconscious told us in beautiful and touching 
language what she felt called to do in the service of her 
Lord, gratefully acknowledging His many mercies thus 
far in her journey of life, and her unshaken confidence 
and trust in Him for all that was to come. The meet- 
ing was greatly moved and she was liberated with 
entire unity. 

" How lovely and sweet she was ! and, though she 
lived so many years and did so much good in them 
all, it always seems to me that she died * in the midst 
of her years.* 

" Oh, we should have liked to keep her longer, the 
dear one ! But He who seeth to the end knew when to 
close the strife — 

* Knew when to loose the silver cord, 
To break the golden bowl, 
And give to her that richest gift, 
Salvation of the soul.' " 



CHAPTER IV. 

FIRST VISIT. 

"He who in glory did on Horeb's height 
Descend to Moses in the bush of flame, 
And bade him go and stand in Pharaoh's sight — 

Who once to Israel's pious shepherd came, 
And sent him forth his champion in the fight, — 
He within my heart thus spake to me: 
* Go forth ! Thou shalt on earth my witness be.' " 

Schiller. 

In the autumn of 1840, Sybil Jones was liberated 
by her Friends to attend meetings and do religious 
work in the provinces, Nova Scotia, and New Bruns- 
wick. In this work she was attended by her husband, 
and they passed through many trying circumstances ; 
but, being sustained from above, they came home 
bringing sheaves with them and feeling that they had 
been instruments in God's hand of doing good. A 
brief account of this journey was kept by Sybil Jones. 
It has never been published, but is full of interest 
to all those who love to follow the steps of devoted 
servants of the Lord. 

During the first winter of the Revolutionary War, 
Benedict Arnold and a band of soldiers forced their 
way over almost insurmountable obstacles through 
the Maine woods to capture Montreal, Quebec, and 
the other Canadian strongholds. Historians have 

40 



FIRST VISIT. 41 

followed their track, carefully noting every detail of 
their march, recording what they suffered and what 
injuries they inflicted, and that, too, though the ex- 
pedition failed of its end and many a fair young life 
was lost in vain. Certainly, we can well afford to 
fallow the pilgrimage of two soldiers of the cross fully 
as heroic, carrying to those otherwise perishing the 
news of life and salvation. 

Sybil Jones was thirty-two years old when she made 
this visit ; she was in delicate health, and obliged to 
leave her two young children, James Parnell and 
Narcissa, behind; but her whole soul was in the 
work, and she writes as she would have done when 
years had fully developed her. In this and her other 
diaries there often occur expressions which to the, 
frequent readers of Fox and the early missionary 
Friends may sound stated and formal, but there is 
a life pervading the whole which shows conclusively 
to a thoughtful person that these phrases are not 
forms, but words clearly expressive of what she felt 
burning in her heart, and they add to rather than 
detract from the weight of her account. There is a 
wonderful depth of meaning and originality in the 
expressions of Friends which unfortunately is lost 
sight of by continual use, just as in all language 
word-metaphors which subtly picture thoughts be- 
come cold by use and lose their picturesqueness. In 
reading the pages recording the earnest labors of long 
ago let us read in them all that was put there by 
looking for the feeling and life under the words : 

" Left home with a certificate from some of my 
friends to visit some of the British provinces, the 23d 



42 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

of 8th mo., 1840, in company with my husband. He 
also has a certificate for said service. Being disap- 
pointed in a female companion, we had either to resign 
the prospect of a visit this season or proceed with no 
other company than our dear friend Daniel Smi- 
ley, who, with a minute from his monthly meeting, 
concluded to accompany us to Nova Scotia. It was 
a trying case, but, feeling as though the present time 
was the right time, we informed the committee ap- 
pointed by the monthly meeting for the purpose of 
providing us with suitable company, how it was with 
us. They met with the elders, and informed us of 
their conclusion, which was that they thought best 
for us to proceed if it seemed like the right time, as 
we had informed them. We had to proceed on the 
prospect of apprehended duty under discouraging 
circumstances, yet I trust with a humble reliance on 
Him who hath said, * I will be a defence unto Israel.* 
Being favored to resign ourselves to His direction and 
protection, we felt our only strength to be in Him, 
feeling, too, the consoling assurance that our dear 
friends we have left behind will travail in exercises 
with us for the Truth's honor and our preservation 
from every hurtful thing. We leave our dear children 
in the best place we could find. . . . Above all, we 
have felt a humble trust that He who never slumbers 
will keep them ; and in remembrance of the blessed 
promise, that all things shall work together for good 
to them that love and fear God, I have been enabled 
under multiplied discouragement to adopt the lan- 
guage, ' Thy will, not mine, be done.* Blessed be 
His name for ever who has been with me in six 



FIRST VISIT. 43 

troubles, and has given me assurance that He will 
not forsake even in the seventh if my place is where 
Mary's was of old. 

" We attended two meetings the day we left — one In 
Windsor, the other in Whitefield — which were very 
trying meetings. . . . 

" Second day, jist. Arrived at Joseph Ester's in 
Calais; had a favored meeting this evening in the 
Calvinist Baptist meeting-house. The people here 
are so attached to Friends that they think it a priv- 
ilege to let us have a house for a meeting. The 
Baptists claimed the privilege, and we thought best 
to improve it. After meeting I took cold from the 
damp air so frequent in this place, and was confined 
to the house till 9th mo. 4th. Proceeded to an ap- 
pointment at St. Stephen's (English side), First day, 
9th mo. 6th, at two p. m., at the Methodist house, 
which was a humbling season to the poor creatures, 
but the eternal truth reigned over all, and I hope the 
' blessed Master of assemblies ' had the honor, for it 
was by the might of His power that the tall cedars of 
Lebanon bowed and the oaks of Bashan bent. Noth- 
ing is too great for Him to do for us when our trust is 
in Him. May it ever be placed there ! Second day, 
7th, had a meeting at St. Stephen's in a Baptist house ; 
put up at Ruggles's temperance house; felt quite 
at home here ; they were an interesting family. We 
sat with the family before leaving them, and divine 
ability was given to speak in the language of en- 
couragement to them, assuring them that a little with 
the incomparable blessing of a peaceful mind was 
better than hoards of gold obtained in a way to 



44 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

injure our fellow-creatures. The demoralizing effects 
of the sale and use of ardent spirits were lamentably 
felt here. The landlord told us that he was once in 
the habit of keeping them for travellers and others, 
but became convinced that it was wrong. It brought 
him into a close trial, he told us, for this was the chief 
source of income. He said he prayed to his heavenly 
Father to direct him what to do, and the answer was that 
he must carry on the baking business. He accordingly 
entered into it, and with the assistance of two or three 
daughters he made a good income. Oh that all would go 
and do likewise who are in this iniquitous practice, that 
must surely prove, if persisted in, their condemnation ! 
^^ 8th. Parted from several of our dear friends who 
came to bid us farewell, and proceeded on our journey; 
came about noon to Oak Bay, parish of St. David's, a 
small village. Here we paused a little, but proceeded. 
My mind became distressed for leaving the place with- 
out trying to have a meeting, which I kept to myself 
until we had travelled about two and a half miles, when 
I was obliged to request our dear friend to turn about ; 
which was crossing to us all, feeling very anxious to get 
along, having been detained from my ill-health, meetings, 
etc. beyond our expectations. But on turning toward the 
place I think we all participated in the reward of peace. 
We stopped at William Josling's, who met us with tears 
of joy. Oh may we omit nothing required of us, but 
be willing to do and suffer His will who will do all 
things well ! This evening had a meeting in the Bap- 
tist house. It was a solemn season, and to the honor 
of truth, I trust. Lodged at William Golding's, who 
was in a tried state of mind owing to entanglement with 



FIRST VISIT, 45 

the doctrine of predestination. He spoke of the cir- 
cumstance of Pharaoh where the Lord said, ' For this 
same purpose I have raised thee up ;' also named the 
passage from the apostle, ' Hath not the potter power 
over the clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel 
for honor and another for dishonor ?' He said that he 
considered it as a temptation of the enemy, but at 
times could hardly keep it out of his mind. As the 
subjects opened to my mind I endeavored to explain 
them. . . . He seemed satisfied, and said he had never 
had so clear an explanation before. Not feeling clear 
of the place without trying for another meeting, we 
accepted the Methodist house, which was kindly offered. 
A Universalist encountered me after meeting. I en- 
deavored to keep near best help. He became silent, 
and I think the truth sank deep in his heart. We 
parted in mutual love and good feeling. He was a 
member of the legislative council, a man of talents. 
We called on the Methodist minister and his wife, who 
received us gladly ; we thought them sincere-hearted 
followers of Christ. Parted under a feeling of holy 
relationship. Left this place for Tower Hill, in the 
parish of St. David. Arrived in a lonely-looking place, 
very desolate, where were a few inhabitants and a 
schoolhouse. There are few here who reflect, I think, 
that they must die, and that it is needful to prepare for 
that solemn event. We left them under serious im- 
pression, I think. We called on a woman apparently 
dying, who said she was not prepared to die; her sins 
were not forgiven. The family and several neighbors 
present were in great distress. I felt moved to call her at- 
tention to Jesus, who alone could help, reminding her 



46 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

of the penitent thief upon the cross. Surrounding be- 
holders were warned to seek the Lord while in health, 
and not put it off till a dying bed, as the pains of the 
feeble body were enough to bear, without the indescri- 
bable pains of a wounded conscience. We called again 
on the sick woman, who seemed a little revived. I 
felt drawn to impart some words of encouragement, 
also to supplicate our heavenly Father on behalf of 
all present. My dear husband imparted some words 
of encouragement to her. We then left her bedside, 
where extreme poverty and want were strikingly ap- 
parent, with some assurance that she would find for- 
giveness and go in peace. We proceeded to meeting. 
A large number of thoughtless mortals were assembled. 
We had to travail in deep exercises for the awakening 
of life. Dear husband supplicated for divine aid, which 
was mercifully granted. Truth finally obtained the 
victory. It is the Lord's doing and marvellous in 
our ey-es. 

" iSth. Had a meeting at Bearing in a schoolhouse 
at the fourth hour, and one at Mehanas, parish of St. 
Stephen's, at seven — the last a truly contriting season. 
I proceeded, accompanied by my dear husband, to visit 
some public-houses and places where liquor is sold, 
and to visit some serious people. This work of appre- 
hended duty was most humiliating to the poor creature, 
but cheerful submission clothed my mind with sweet 
peace. We were treated kindly by all, and all expressed 
their thankfulness to us for calling, and received civilly 
what we had to deliver to them, saying they knew the 
right, but were unwilling to do it. Not feeling clear 
of these parts without a meeting with the Congre- 



FIRST VISIT. 47 

gationalists at Calais, though I thought it probable 
that they would not grant it, I informed our company 
of it, who encouraged me to attend to the opening. 
Accordingly, a messenger was despatched, and returned 
word that they were expecting to meet in the evening 
for a prayer-meeting, and would cheerfully give up the 
meeting to us without a single objection. The Lord 
will make a way where there appears to be no way. 
In the evening we met with them, and had a good 
meeting, mutually satisfactory. 

" lyth. Sat down at the house where we were stay- 
ing with the family at meeting hour. Our little num- 
ber with the family were enough to inherit the Saviour's 
blessed promise, * There will 1 be in the midst of them.' 
We gave no notice, but two or three neighbors some- 
how got information and joined our company. At first 
it was a stripped season. The cloud as big as a man's 
hand was hardly discernible, but in the Lord's own 
time He blessed us indeed. His power arose to the 
contriting of all present. It was truly a refreshing 
time, in which we could say, ' The Lord is my good- 
ness and fortress, my high tower.' 

" i8th. Had a meeting at the Ledge in St. Stephen's 
at two o'clock. Some of the true wrestling seed were 
present, who were visited in their low dwelling-place 
and refreshed with the circulating influence of divine 
love, which spread even to the skirts of the assembly. 
I am ready to say, * The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall 
not want.' ' He brought me into his banqueting-house, 
and his banner over us was love.' 

" 26th, which was First day. Had a meeting in the 
city of St. John, in the Methodist chapel in Germania 



48 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

street, at 2 P. m., and one at 6 o'clock in the parish of 
Portland, in the Methodist house. Several thousand 
souls met with us this day, and the Lord blessed us abun- 
dantly to the refreshing of the weary traveller toward 
the city of rest. Lodged at the Methodist preacher's, 
William Temple, who was truly hospitable. On the 
morning of the 28th went to the steamboat bound to 
Annapolis, but, it being stormy, the captain deemed it 
improper to put out to sea. Having our horses and 
carriage put on board at high tide, and could not get 
them off until tide served again, we felt some anxiety, 
fearing we had not done right in this procedure, as the 
elements seemed against us. We met with a man 
named Abial L. Brown on board, who kindly asked us 
to go home with him and remain until the boat should 
go. We gladly accepted his invitation and went to the 
house, where the family received us with affection, set 
some refreshments before us, of which we gladl}^ par- 
took, not having taken any breakfast and having walked 
some distance in the wet and cold. After being thus 
refreshed and having warmed ourselves, we felt inclined 
to assemble the family for a religious opportunity , which 
was gladly acceded to on their parts. The season was 
a truly comforting one. Afterward we inquired for 
a woman who had spoken to us the evening before 
after meeting and manifested a great desire to have an 
interview with us. From our description one of the 
daughters kindly offered to tr>' to find her, though they 
could not tell her name. She made a successful attempt, 
and soon came with Elizabeth Girard, as she said her 
name was. She was a Friend in principle, though 
belonging to the Methodists. She lamented much the 



FIRST VISIT. 49 

extravagant conformity to the vain fashions of the 
world, which is at enmity to Christ — said they had 
sorrowfully departed from the simplicity which marked 
the members in their rise in Wesleyan days. She spoke 
of the spiritual worship very clearly as that which was 
alone acceptable unto God. The storm subsided at 
about ten o'clock. We left, accompanied by E. G., 
who went to the steamboat with us. After our im- 
parting some advice to this dear friend, she left. At 
about one o'clock we left St. John's City, and in twelve 
hours were across the Bay of Fundy at Annapolis. 
I was not very seasick ; He who holdeth the waters in 
His hand preserves us yet. Little vital religion is felt 
in this part of the heritage. The people here have 
many advantages for a livelihood. The land has a rich 
soil, and the Annapolis River flowing through it in the 
midst of an extensive valley, where many of its farms 
stretch along its banks, the rich products may be 
borne through the river into the Bay of Fundy to dis- 
tant parts. Thus was a kind Providence bountifully 
blessed, but a worldly spirit is prevailing among them. 
" i^fth. Held a meeting at Granville, and on the 15th 
went over Young's Mountain. Again not feeling clear, 
had a meeting in the evening, a memorable season of 
humbling contrition to most present. A young man 
named James Van Blarcum, being at this meeting, was 
convinced of the truth. May the Lord give him strength 
to suffer for His cause, which will no doubt be the case 
if he proves faithful !" * 

* James Van Blarcum was at work on a house when the notice was 
given for this meeting. On hearing that a woman would preach, he said 
he would go and hear what these heretics had to say. It was a revela- 
4 



50 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

Eli and Sybil Jones attended many more meetings 
in the provinces, among them Annapolis, Wilmot 
Mount, Wolfville, Falmouth, Pictou, and Truro, mak- 
ing many weary journeys, some days riding as much 
as forty-three miles to hold a meeting. These long 
rides were attended with many discomforts, as it was 
the eleventh month, and the weather extremely raw and 
cold. The roads were in poor condition, and the mud 
oftentimes almost impassable. Sybil Jones describes 
the difficulties encountered in making their way to 
Truro : " Coming to two roads about noon, we in- 
quired of an innkeeper the direct road to our destina- 
tion. We followed his directions, found excellent 
roads, but, being through a thick forest, it was rather 
lonely. The weather being cloudy, night came on 
early, without discovering any opening in the dense 
forest that encompassed us. The thought did not 
occur that we might be on the wrong road until the 
horses began to wade very deep in mud. My husband 
sprang out of the carriage to lead the horses. After 
proceeding a few steps, the mire growing deeper, he 
ordered the carriage stopped, and after travelling 
around some time in the dark he exclaimed that we 
were on the wrong road — that we had come to the 
end of a road. Our feelings can better be imagined 

tion to him; his eyes were opened, and the whole course of his life 
changed. A few years after this he came to China, so that he might 
know more of Friends and their principles. At first his family were so 
displeased at his becoming a Quaker that he was forced to leave his 
home, though he was afterward highly respected by them all. He be- 
came a powerful minister in the Society, and was for a number of years 
connected with Oak Grove Seminary. He was married to Eunice, sister 
of Eli Jones. 



FIRST VISIT. 



51 



than described. Strangers in a strange land, in a vast 
wilderness at the end of our road, and the night being 
without even starlight, I shall never forget my feelings. 
We found our carriage was fast in the mire. After 
unharnessing the horses, which with some difficulty 
leapt out on hard footing, the men soon pried the 
carriage out and harnessed to return, while I stood 
on a dry spot where my dear husband had placed me. 
I was afraid that we had been directed there for a 
wicked design, when these words came to me: 'Ju- 
dah's lion guards the way, and guides the traveller 
home.' After going back about fifty rods we dis- 
covered a light, and, going to it, found that it pro- 
ceeded from a little hut. The people said that we 
could get across the woods, to the right road by go- 
ing a quarter of a mile, and kindly offered to go with 
us and show us the way. We followed through the 
roughest road I ever passed. One had to hold the 
carriage behind to keep it from upsetting. We arrived 
safe on the road, happy and thankful." 

They had many " opportunities " in family circles, 
which they always found refreshing. They met with 
great kindness, although in many places they were 
greatly grieved to find that the spirit of the world held 
sway over the people. In many cases a great con- 
trolling power was felt, and they left believers much 
strengthened in the Lord to cope with the adversary. 
Owing to the inclemency of the weather they deemed 
it expedient to return to their homes. The homeward 
journey was long, and they were often able to get but 
scanty accommodations; but they ever found the " Lord 
a covert from the storms," and proved Him to be "as 



52 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." They 
were greatly cheered on retracing their steps to find 
that the seed scattered on their journey of love had 
fallen in good ground. The tavern-keeper with whom 
they had labored so lovingly had given up his sinful 
business, and was now keeping a strictly temperance 
house. Indeed, there was now no rum sold in the 
town. With deep interest and love for the dear people 
in the field in which' they labored, and looking to God 
to bless their labors, they took their way to the home 
where were the dear children whom to leave was so 
hard. 

It was the beginning of winter before they prepared 
to return, so that it was impossible for them to use 
the carriage with which they made the journey, and 
it was finally decided to put the carriage on run- 
ners, and in this way the long return journey was 
made. 

Some years later they went over the same ground 
by carriage on a second visit to the provinces. In one 
place, as they were driving along through a long wood, 
they were met in the road by a huge bear, which stood 
its ground for some time, but finally retreated and 
allowed the Friends to go on their mission. Soon 
after this visit Eli Jones felt that it was his duty to 
go over the meetings of Canada and to speak to the 
Friends there, both in the different assemblies and by 
their firesides. His dear wife in the mean time was 
making a tour through New England, doing the work 
which was laid upon her. It was a trial for them to 
be so widely separated, but each was in the proper 
place. Sybil Jones was brought low with sickness 



FIRST VISIT. 53 

and forced to hasten home. Eli Jones came from his 
field of service, and called on his friend Daniel Smiley, 
where he found his wife very ill; but recovery was 
granted, and they came rejoicing to the family at 
home. 



CHAPTER V. 

EAST, WEST, AND SOUTH. 

" I have always been thinking of the different ways in which Chris- 
tianity is taught, and whenever I find any way that makes it a wider 
blessing than any other, I cling to that : I mean to that which takes hi 
the most good of all kinds, and brings in the most people as sharers.'* 

After their return from this last visit they passed 
a few years in quiet work at home, often attending the 
different quarterly meetings in New England, and gen- 
erally taking an annual trip to Newport to be present 
at the yearly meeting, which was occasionally attended 
by Friends from the West and from Great Britain, 
bringing thither knowledge of far-off lands where the 
whitening fields called for more laborers. 

In 1845 they felt called to go over the meetings of 
Friends in nearly all parts of the United States, and 
this and the next year were mostly taken up with that 
work. 

Eli Jones has since travelled over this ground many 
times, and has often visited the different yearly meet- 
ings of America, but always with quite different feelings 
from those which were in their hearts at the first ex- 
tensive visit. John Wilber had been " disowned " by 
the Friends only two years before, and his upholders 
who had separated from the Society were in many of 
the meetings which they visited. There was a general 
54 



EAST, WEST, AND SOUTH. $5 

feeling of sorrow that a second unhappy division 
should appear in the midst of peaceful neighborhoods 
and the animosity arising from fruitless argument had 
weakened the loving spirit and dampened the zealous 
ardor of many who should have been the unbiased 
spokesmen of the gospel of Christ. 

Eli and Sybil Jones endeavored to draw the two 
parties together into the house of faith and true belief. 
It is almost impossible in the midst of church dif- 
ferences for any one who is interested to be unprej- 
udiced in his judgment. Bitterness shows itself in 
the hearts of the most loving. Differences are ex- 
aggerated and words are misunderstood for things. 
The main body are over-eager to win back those 
they are losing, while they are inflicting deeper wounds 
by their too hasty blows at what seems the heresy 
of their opponents, and the latter cherish a feeling 
of glory in the size of the rent they are making. 
These two Friends tried sweetly and gently to per- 
suade those differing with them that the ancient Rock 
was the only foundation for their building. They 
visited the families of nearly all the meetings and 
impressed their thoughts on the individual members. 
If perhaps they accomplished little in cementing 
the two bodies, they did much to strengthen 
the weak and to point the unsheltered to a Tower 
of safety and defence. It may be interesting to 
follow them in a few extracts from Sybil Jones's 
journal : 

" Left home 9th mo,, 1845, with a certificate to visit 
in the love of the gospel the yearly meetings of Ohio, 
Indiana, Baltimore, and North Carolina. We took 



5^ ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

passage on the steamer John Marshall from Augusta 
to Boston, and from there by cars to Lynn, where we 
attended their quarterly meeting. Friends in this 
meeting are brought under deep exercise on account 
of the attendance of a committee from the Separatists 
and John Wilbur in person. They took full liberty to 
throw out their sentiments and bore very hard on 
Friends, all of which Friends were mercifully favored 
to bear with true Christian patience. After being de- 
tained seven hours the meeting adjourned until nine 
the next morning, at which time they convened with- 
out interruption and were greatly refreshed together. 
"From Lynn we went to New Bedford, where a 
small meeting of the Wilburites is held, some of whom 
we called to see and were treated kindly, but were 
painfully afflicted in spirit under a sense of their aliena- 
tion from the unity of the Spirit by which we are called. 
Friends here are not numerous, but upright standard- 
bearers. In the morning attended Newtown meeting, 
which was also attended by the Separatists (a few being 
here). After a time of solemn retirement before the 
Lord truth rose into dominion and a contriting time 
it was." 

They went on by boat to New York, and from there 
to Philadelphia and Baltimore, where John Meader, 
Thomas Willis, Richard Carpenter, and others met 
them to go in their company farther west: "We 
reached Mount Pleasant the day previous to select 
meeting, which began the 8th of 9th mo. The spirit 
of bitterness has made sad havoc here. The four 
visiting Friends were duly proved in suffering with 
the suffering. No notice was taken of any certificates 



EAST, WEST, AND SOUTH. $7 

on their minutes. The servants of the Lord in attend- 
ance were of one heart and one mind, and there were 
times amid the conflict that the gracious ear, I doubt 
not, inclined to the fervent petition, ' Lord, save us or 
we perish.* A calm stole over the troubled waves, 
and ability was vouchsafed to proclaim the unsearch- 
able riches of Christ. 

" The meeting closed on the 1 2th of the month, and 
the next morning we proceeded on our way to Cin- 
cinnati. We took the steamer New Hampshire, and 
were more than five days on the Ohio River. The 
water was low, so that we were often aground some 
hours. We had a meeting on board with the pas- 
sengers, and it was crowned by the presence of Him 
who holds the waters in the hollow of his hand and 
causeth the mountains to flow down at His presence. 
We were treated with great kindness and respect. The 
first part of our passage I noticed some playing cards, 
which brought me under great exercise, and after care- 
fully examining the subject I thought it my duty before 
retiring to rest to walk to the table and express my 
feelings. Asking leave of them, I proceeded to relieve 
my mind, which was received kindly, and I saw no more 
card-playing afterward. I felt great peace in taking 
up this cross. May I always be willing to do His 
will who leadeth safely and sustaineth the soul amid 
every conflict ! 

"We arrived in Cincinnati on the i8th. After our 
arrival I informed a Friend that the subject of visiting 
families had rested with great weight upon my mind ; 
which he communicated to some of the select mem- 
bers, and it resulted in an opportunity with all of them. 



58 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

I opened the subject before them, and a sweet cement- 
ing season of divine approval was graciously afforded. 
They fully and feelingly united with us and encouraged 
us to proceed therein." 

They visited nearly all the families in that region, 
and felt encouraged in the labor. She writes: 

" I believe it is the design of the Head of the Church 
to pour out a rich blessing on this part of His inherit- 
ance; indeed, He seems turning His hand upon the 
little ones, and will, I believe, raise up valiants among 
the youth, who will publish with the voice of thanks- 
giving and tell of all His wondrous works." 

Having done much work in Ohio and Indiana, they 
came over the Alleghany Mountains, and revisited 
Baltimore, forming many pleasant acquaintances with 
the Friends in that city, and holding meeting for public 
worship, as well as visiting the families for more quiet 
work. They next turned toward the South, and 
reached North Carolina in time for the yearly meeting. 
There was much feeling here in regard to the separa- 
tion, and an epistle from the Separatists was rejected at 
this yearly meeting. 

In regard to the slaves, she writes : 

"Vital religion is very low. Truth has fallen in 
the streets, and Equity cannot enter in some places. 
Here is a suffering seed in many portions of this land 
of slavery. Friends have borne in meekness a noble 
testimony against its iniquity, and, though they often 
feel disheartened at the shadowy prospect, I believe 
their upright example has had, and will still have, 
salutary influence. The Lord has inclined His gra- 
cious ear to the multiplied cries of the oppressed, and 



EAST, WEST, AND SOUTH. 59 

those who suffer for them as being bound with them, 
and will hasten the blessed day when Ethiopia shall 
stretch forth her hand unto God and the oppressor 
shall no more oppress. 

" There are so many rents and divisions throughout 
Christendom that many are crying, Who shall show us 
any good ? I earnestly desire that these overturnings 
and siftings may tend to draw the people to the living 
eternal Substance, to build on the ancient Foundation 
of all the holy prophets and apostles. There is great 
need of more dedication and a stirring up to greater 
diligence in this land." 

The work and service in Carolina were carried on 
in great bodily weakness, and often Sybil Jones was 
compelled to remain at home while Eli Jones and the 
Friends with them attended the meetings. At the be- 
ginning of the new year they returned to their Maine 
home to pass a few quiet years before undertaking a 
still more extensive journey. 



CHAPTER VI. 

VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 

"Be sure they sleep not whom God needs, nor fear 
Their holding light his charge, when every hour 
That finds that charge delayed is a new death, 
* * * * * 

So intimate a tie connects me with our God." 

Browning. 

There is wonderful harmony in God's work in the 
different kingdoms and sub-kingdoms of His domain. 
When His method of working is resisted, there is 
always harsh conflicting, and finally He removes the 
obstacle ; but wherever we look, so long as there is a 
submission to His plan, there is never a jar, never a 
halt on the road to the great end which He has in 
view, be it in the growth of a tree, in the motion of a 
world through space, in the maturity of animal or 
human life, or in the development of spiritual being. 
But the first rule that must be fulfilled before He can 
rightly use any of His intelligent creations is that they 
fully submit themselves to Him to be trained and used. 
Just as the brook yields strict obedience to the gentle 
impulse which moves it from its source on through 
its winding channel to its home in the great ocean of 
waters, so all who are to be the servants of the Most 
High must be willing to become the instruments 
through which He works, and must let Him flow 
through unhindered. Those whom He will use He 

60 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA, 6 1 

prepares just as much, and in a higher sense, as He 
makes the lily grow — not by any toiling and spinning 
on its part, but by putting a life within it which 
animates and builds up the whole structure; and as 
the lily adorns the spot in which He puts it, so His 
workmen should beautify the vineyard where He sets 
them. 

It is a very marked fact in the lives of the two of 
whom I am writing that they not only gave themselves 
up to be prepared by Him who was to use them, but 
they also waited until He showed them where they 
should work. There is work everywhere which is 
waiting to be done, nor does any one do well who idly 
sits still until he is told just where to begin, but God 
has His chosen workmen fitted on purpose for a special 
place, as much as an earthly master-builder, and the 
time comes to every one when it is imperative for him 
to hear the order which he is to execute. The Lord 
spake unto Moses often, and He who made known His 
ways then has power to tell His will to whom he wishes 
now, and the proper messenger does not embark before 
the message comes. 

I find in the earlier life of Eli and Sybil Jones that 
their great, absorbing wish was that they might be in 
full harmony with Him whom they served. They 
looked up to be taught, and He gave just the right 
service to enlarge and strengthen their powers, so that 
they might be prepared for the more difficult under- 
taking which now presented itself No one who reads 
the journal which follows will think they went to Li- 
beria prompted by their own feelings, but the service 
was evidently laid upon them. 



62 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

To understand properly the struggle through which 
Sybil Jones passed before leaving her home, it will be 
necessary to picture to ourselves the circumstances 
surrounding her nearly half a century ago. She had 
grown to womanhood in a little town in Maine, having 
exceedingly limited opportunities for obtaining a know- 
ledge of the world and the ways of men and women ; 
she was now the mother of five children, who needed 
their parents' care; she had just undergone the sorrow 
of seeing many dear to her pass from earth, while still 
others of her family were already on deathbeds : and 
now she was to go from all that earth held dearest to 
her, perhaps never to see even her own country again. 
To-day to travel is the ordinary course ; fifty years ago 
it was a rare and momentous event for one to go far 
from home. It would seem most hazardous to a frail 
woman to go from Maine to Baltimore, there to em- 
bark, not in a steamer with modern conveniences, but 
in a sailing-packet with rough passengers and still 
rougher crew, for the west coast of Africa. Let us 
not wonder as we read her account that she waited 
long and counselled earnestly with her own heart, for 
if she should go self-sent only perils insurmountable 
would be before her, but on God's errands, sent by His 
command, she knew of nothing to fear. 

T\\^ Friends' Review for 6th mo. 28, 1 851, has the 
following paragraph : " In the meeting of ministers and 
elders of New England Yearly Meeting on Seventh 
day, 14th, our dedicated friend Sybil Jones opened 
a prospect of an extensive religious visit to Great 
Britain, Ireland, some parts of the continent of Europe, 
Sierra Leone, Liberia, and some islands on the west 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 6'^ 

coast of Africa and in the West Indies ; and her hus- 
band, Eli Jones, informed the meeting that he beHeved 
it his duty to bear her company in this extensive 
and arduous engagement. The subject obtained the 
weighty and feeHng consideration of the meeting, and, 
though Friends were fully sensible to the magnitude 
and importance of the undertaking and of the appar- 
ently inadequate state of her health, such a current 
of unity with the prospect was experienced that all 
doubt of its propriety was taken away; and they 
were accordingly liberated for the service. The sym- 
pathy and prayers of their friends will unquestionably 
follow them." 

As the most of the following year's work was in 
Liberia, it may be well to speak briefly of the position 
and condition of that country. 

Liberia is a negro republic on the west coast of 
Africa. Its length along the coast is about three hun- 
dred and eighty miles, and its entire area about twenty- 
four thousand square miles. Sierra Leone, the country 
to the north of Liberia, was colonized by colored men 
from Great Britain, assisted by such men as Grenville 
Sharp, Wilberforce, and Clarkson, the first settlement 
being made in 1787, and composed partly of negroes 
who had served in the British army during our Revolu- 
tionary War. This and successive colonies were terri- 
bly weakened by the death- stroke of the African fever, 
but they were finally successful; and American phi- 
lanthropists, who were eager to help an unfortunate 
race, founded here in 1822 a colony of freedmen who 
might enjoy the political and social privileges denied 
to them in the United States, The town of Monrovia 



64 ELI AND SYBIL JONES, 

was founded and named after James Monroe, then 
President. They landed in the midst of heathendom, 
and the first years were years of struggle ; but these 
colored men showed that they could govern them- 
selves. They drew up a constitution much like the 
American, the first article of which read, " All men 
are born equally free and independent, and among 
their natural inherent and inalienable rights are the 
rights of enjoying and defending life and liberty;" 
and the fourth section, " There shall be no slavery 
within this republic." 

The republic has a President, Senate, House of Re- 
presentatives, and a judicial department, so that good 
laws are passed, explained, and enforced. In 1847 the 
republic declared its independence, and was finally in 
186 1 recognized by the United States as a sovereign 
state. The Methodist Church established a mission 
here in 1833; the Presbyterian Church followed this 
example, and sent J. B. Penny into the field the same 
year. The American Episcopal Church was at work 
in the republic as early as 1836, while the Baptists 
turned their attention there in 1845, so that it was in 
fact a " missionary republic." The present population 
of the republic comprises about 18,000 civilized negroes, 
chiefly of American origin, and 1,050,000 half- wild 
natives, who are gradually adopting a settled life and 
conforming to the habits of their civilized countrymen. 
Professor David Christy said in a lecture in 1855 : "If 
a colony of colored men, beginning with less than a 
hundred, and gradually increasing to nine thousand, 
has in thirty years established an independent republic 
amidst a savage people, destroyed the slave-trade on 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 65 

six hundred miles of the African coast, put down the 
heathen temples in one of its largest districts, afforded 
security to all the missions within its limits, and now 
casts its shield over three hundred thousand native 
inhabitants, what may not be done in the next thirty 
years by colonization and missions combined were suf- 
ficient means supplied to call forth all their energies ?" 

It was during this visit to Liberia that Eli Jones first 
felt his heart fill with zeal for missionary work. One 
day, going to pay a visit to President Roberts, he found 
a large band of fierce natives assembled in the Presi- 
dent's room to have him arbitrate their quarrel. The 
dispute being settled peacefully, the President intro- 
duced Eli Jones, asking a noble-looking chief if he 
would like to have this man go with them to talk 
about God to their tribe. The prompt and earnest 
answer was, " Yes, and we will build him a house if he 
will come and stay." At once he saw in mind the 
needs of these and the thousands of other human be- 
ings waiting for some one to bring to them the fuller 
teaching of the way to a higher Christian civilization, 
and from that date he was more than ever desirous to 
be an instrument of help. 

The following poem was written by Elizabeth Lloyd * 
on the departure of Eli and Sybil Jones for Africa : 

THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. 
" Behold, I will send my messenger." 
Dedicated to a service high and holy from above ; 
Guided by the inward teaching of a heavenly Father's love, 

* Afterward Elizabeth Howell. She is the author of the beautiful 
lines entitled " Milton in his Blindness." 



66 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

Listening to the soft monitions whispered in her spirit's ear, 
Answering to the call like Samuel, " Lo, my Father, I am here," 
Child-like in her meek submission, His appointing to fulfil, 
Trusting in His strength for safety, she went forth to do His will. 

Bearing up His " ark of promise," she the weak became the strong, 

In her heart a hymn of praising, on her lips a triumph song ; 

" Thou hast vanquished, O my Saviour — Thou who bore my sins for me j 

Sanctify with thy anointing sacrifices made for thee. 

As of old Thou ledst Thy children, showing them the cloud by day 

And by night the fiery pillar, so lead me along my way. 

" If I falter, if my heart be tempted by its doubts and fears. 

If my eyes, to heaven uplifted, see Thee only through their tears; 

If the clinging of love's tendrils bind my thoughts to things of earth. 

And between me and my duty come the dreams of home and hearth, — 

Oh have pity on me. Father, and if I should go astray 

Let Thy angels, Faith and Patience, point me to the narrow way. 

" Clear before me let the shining of Thy holy light arise, 
Far behind me cast the shadow of my own poor sacrifice. 
Can I doubt when I remember how the sea was cleft in twain. 
And, a wall of waters rising, left a valley in the main 
That Thy people might pass over on the golden-sanded path. 
So to sing their song of triumph, safe from the pursuer's wrath ? 

" Can I fear when I remember Thou didst feed them day by day, 
With thy manna, that like hoarfrost round the tents of Israel lay ; 
In the wilderness wast with them till their tarriance was o'er, 
Sweetened Marah's bitter fountain, opened Horeb's rock-bound door? 
Nay, Thy power and might, as ever, all omnipotent shall be : 
' Rock of Ages,' what can move me if I lean my soul on Thee?" 

^Vhere the palms of Afric gather up the tropic heats by day, 

Where the jerboa and the lion in their evening shadows play, 

Where the streams are coral-bedded and the mountains gemmed with gold. 

She is bearing forth a treasure human heart alone may hold — 

Oil to pour on troubled spirits, seed to sow in barren place. 

Soothing balm of consolation, knowledge of anointing grace. 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 6/ 

"Ethiopia and the islands," far away her mission lies: 

From the sweet New England homestead underneath her native skies, 

To Liberia's dark-browed children, Sierra Leone's struggling band, 

She has messages from heaven, guided by the Father's hand. 

She is pointing out salvation : " Christ has no partition-wall ; 

We are children of one Father, and His love redeemed us all." 

Oh, the fettered slave may hear it, sinking 'neath his weight of woe ; 

In the northland, in the southland, streams of gospel love may flow. 

Not a partial gleam, a star-ray, gilding but a single night. 

Was God's thought in His creation when He said, " Let there be light ;* 

Not a single soul's redemption when that piercing cry went up, 

" Eloi lama sabacthani !" ere He drank death's bitter cup. 

But a world-illuminating flood of radiance was born 

When the angels sang rejoicing o'er the earth's baptismal morn, 

And the souls of all created, and the souls of all to be. 

Are partakers of redemption by that death on Calvary, 

That divine self-abnegation of the holy Son of man — 

Thought sublime in its expansion, theme beyond our finite scan. ' 

Oh, the human heart a temple for the Saviour's love may be 
In all nations, in all climates, on the land or on the sea : 
Sect or color bars not entrance ; only Sin her watch may set. 
Keeping Him without the portals till with dew his locks are wet; 
But lie ceases not from calling, " Garnish and make clean for me; 
Drive away the money-changers, in their place let angels be," 

Through His instruments He calleth, humble tho' they be and weak, 
That the deaf ears may be opened and the sealed lips may speak, 
That the maimed may halt no longer, and the blinded eyes may see. 
And the lepers, healed and cleansed, glorifying God may be. 
Ignorance and sin are blindness, but as morning after night 
Is the heart's regeneration when God says, " Let there be light." 

The following account has been selected from Sybil 
Jones's journal. It was written to be published soon 
after their return, but publication was delayed, and now 
for the first time it is made public. It will show, as 
few other writings, the emotions and strivings of a sin- 



68 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

cere seeking soul. Her journals speak little, especially 
in her earlier visits, of natural surroundings and ordi- 
nary events, for her spiritual work seemed so weighty 
that nothing was allowed to turn her eyes from that: 

So. China, 12 mo., 18^0. Painful are the baptisms 
that my poor trembling soul tries to endure patiently. 
Forgive me, most gracious God, if I dare repine. Death 
seems again lingering on our borders, and the remnant 
of a once large family must soon diminish. My worthy 
father seems drawing near the silent grave, but full of 
bright hopes of a mansion in the eternal city. Though 
well knowing that the " Judge of all the earth " will 
do right, yet sad is the thought that soon we must lose 
his cheerful society and instructive counsel. Oh that 
this deep affliction may prove a salutary cup to the 
soul, though very bitter to the taste ! I learn many 
awful lessons while sitting by his bedside. It is a 
foretaste of heaven sweetly blended with a hope of 
reunion around the throne. My soul is weighed down 
with the prospect of more extended service in the 
cause of our holy Redeemer, and lingers tremblingly 
on Jordan's banks. Oh, this Jordan seems awful, but 
I must descend to its bottom, and may the eternal God 
be my refuge, and underneath the everlasting arms ! 
The billows overwhelm, and I sink in deep mire where 
there is no standing. My health is frail and my spirits 
flag. But amid all, the unchanging Rock is my 
support. 

ist mo., 18^1. With the unity of my friends I per- 
formed some errands of love in some portions of our 
own yearly meetings. I went forth in fear and much 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 69 

weakness, but through abounding mercy the peace of 
God fills my heart. In the course of this visit I had a 
very interesting public meeting in Nantucket. My spir- 
it had long lingered around that little island of the sea, 
and sweet was our communion together in the love 
and power of truth. Dear father met me joyfully and 
expressed great thankfulness for being permitted to 
meet me again below. He said his soul was filled with 
a Saviour's love, and he longed to go home to his 
heavenly rest, to join with saints and angels in sing- 
ing the song of Moses and the Lamb for ever and ever. 
It was a time of blessed communion. My mind is 
deeply impressed with the language uttered frequently 
in my inward ear : " Go offer a sacrifice similar to my 
servant Abraham's ;" which causes great fearfulness to 
come upon me, and a sense of utter unworthiness and 
inability for such a momentous work, feeling the least 
and last of those who name the great Name. 

2d mo. Dear father seems near his eternal joy. He 
told me to-day that he had been thinking I had a pros- 
pect of some service in a distant land, and wished to 
know if I thought of such a thing. As I had not 
named it to any one, and felt restrained from speaking 
of it, I hesitated, but at length opened my feelings, at 
which he seemed introduced into much sympathy, and 
desired me to be faithful, and then placed his hands 
upon me, and poured out a fervent prayer to our 
Father in heaven on my behalf for His holy presence 
to go with me, and His almighty power to keep me 
from all evil. It was a solemn season, for the painful 
and yet happy thought mingled in this communion 
that when my frail bark must venture on dangerous 



70 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

seas his would be for ever anchored on the shore of 
immortal joy. 

This day I have been summoned to my sainted 
father's bed of death. He was happy, full of heavenly 
peace, and, resting his ransomed spirit on his Saviour's 
breast, there breathed his life sweetly away. Our loss 
is great, but his gain glorious. 

2d mo. We have conveyed his cherished form to 
its last resting-place, and Jesus was with us and pre- 
sided over all. Oh let his name be praised and his 
matchless goodness be adored. 

jd mo. My dear brother Augustine, whose health 
has been declining for some years, seems rapidly fol- 
lowing father, at which our hearts are so stricken that 
sorrow's bitter tears, fast falling on a sainted father's 
grave, are even shared by our dearest brother, on whose 
cheek flushes the crimson hectic omen of dissolution. 
The painful thought of the departure of our dear 
brother, the last earthly prop of the family, seemed 
agonizing to our hearts. While these afflictive dis- 
pensations are meted out, my spirit dwells in the great 
depths of self-abasedness, and bears upon it too the 
burden of a Saviour's love to sinners in a far-distant 
land. Oh fix the trust of my tempest-tossed soul 
immutably upon the unchanging Rock ! 

To-day I have returned from visiting my sweet 
brother. He thankfully acknowledges the mercy of 
being so calm and comfortable, though rapidly hast- 
ing to the silent grave. Soon after the Lord saw fit to 
plunge his soul into deep baptism for its purification. 
His distress seemed entirely indescribable, but, being 
encouraged to believe it was a refining process, though 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 7 1 

thus painful, to prepare him to partake more fully of 
the joys of God's salvation, his faith seemed strength- 
ened to hope for mercy and deliverance in the Lord's 
time ; which time at last came, and ushered in the 
dawn of a glorious morning without clouds. His 
heart was full of songs of joy. His constant theme 
was the unsearchable riches of Christ. One day when 
I entered his sick-room, he exclaimed, " Dear sister, I 
am glad to see thee : I want to tell thee the joy of my 
soul. I have heard the language, as intelligibly as 
anything I hear with my outward ear, ' Speak com- 
fortably unto Jerusalem, cry unto her that her warfare 
is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath 
received at the Lord's hand double for all her sin;' 
and, though I am most unworthy, I believe this is 
applied to me, for my peace flows like a river." He 
lived about five weeks from this time, and had indeed 
no more conflicts ; not a doubt or a cloud obstructed 
the continual shining of the glorious Sun of Right- 
eousness. He often said that he was as full of songs 
of joy as his poor heart could hold. 

Deep baptisms abide me, and such a painful sense 
is given me of my own inability and nothingness that 
I am ready to shrink from attempting to open the sub- 
ject to my friends. My poor tempest-tossed soul 
dwells near the valley and shadow of death. Liberia 
seems to press upon my mind, but can all this be 
called for at such weak hands ? 

I have omitted to mention in its place a testimony 
of my dear brother's to me a short time before his 
death. In an interview together he thus expressed 
himself: " Dear sister, I have thought for some time 



72 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

past that the Master had a service for thee in distant 
lands across the ocean, and I have this to say to thee : 
Go with thy life in thy hand. It should not concern 
thee whether thou sees thy native land again or not : 
heaven is as near there as here. Go and tell the sinner 
of a Saviour's love ; bear the good tidings to lands afar 
off. I wish you to make timely arrangements, so as to 
move along quietly." I replied : " Dear brother, I do 
not wish to repine at my lot, but I have been thinking 
that thou art soon to be released from the conflict, and 
that I must remain still longer in the field, and may 
make some misstep and never reach thy glorious 
home." To which he replied, looking at me most 
impressively : " The dear Saviour will never leave thee; 
He will never leave thee, but when thy work is finished 
he will bring thee to meet me in heaven." This seemed 
a renewed evidence that the service was required, but 
so deep was my sense of frailty and entire inability to 
do the work that I could not believe that the Master 
would select me to go on such an important embassy, 
a service of such vast moment. The evidence had 
been very clear, but the feeling of unfitness for the 
work seemed to hedge up the way entirely, and I 
thought unless some person would come to me and 
tell me the Lord required it and would fit me for the 
work, I would not take a step. I thought I could not 
receive it but from some one clothed with gospel au- 
thority ; and in looking over this class I selected dear 
Benjamin Seebohm, who I knew was somewhere in 
America. I was very much reduced in health, attrib- 
utable to painful watchings and partings, for I slept 
little and had little appetite for food. Our monthly 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 73 

meeting day arrived, and, though my health was so 
frail that I had gotten out to meeting but little for 
some time, I felt an almost irresistible impression to 
go. I accordingly went. As I entered the door almost 
the first person I met was Benjamin Seebohm. I 
could not have been more surprised at the appearance 
of any person. In a moment my request rushed into 
my mind, and thought I, " I am caught now ; I have 
done wrong in asking this sign, and may the Lord 
forgive me and in mercy overlook this presumption, 
and not grant the request unless it is His will, in con- 
descension to my low estate." The meeting gathered 
under a great solemnity. It seemed to me that this 
weighty service fell upon it, and after a time of very 
solemn silence dear Benjamin arose and took up an 
individual case, and so exactly described my feelings 
and the service that no doubt remained but the 
Most High had sent him with this message to me. 
My soul was poured out like water and all my bones 
shook. I thought all present knew it was I, though 
not one but my husband had been apprised of it (it 
having been to me too sacred a thing to speak of). 
Indeed, I thought I was a spectacle for men and angels, 
while the thoughts of my heart were revealed before 
many witnesses and the work of the Lord proclaimed in 
demonstration of the Spirit and with power. He spoke 
most cheeringly — explained feelings of poverty as pre- 
paratory to this work, that the creature may be laid 
low in the dust and the blessed Name alone be mag- 
nified; said the Lord would abundantly furnish for 
every good word and work; that he reduced the 
creature that all dependence on itself might be entirely 



74 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

removed, and our confidence firmly fixed on Himself, 
who is the eternal foundation of wisdom and know- 
ledge. I did not see Benjamin again until the day 
after my dear brother's funeral, when he came to our 
house and lodged. He had a meeting in the place, 
and precious and heart-searching was his gospel mes- 
sage. He likewise had a sweet opportunity with the 
mourners at the house of my lamented brother's 
widow. Long will this beloved Friend and his con- 
soling heavenly testimony be remembered. 

§th mo. J Seventh day. To-day is our select meeting, 
and my trembling spirit is loth to fly, and yet afraid to 
yield. Who, indeed, can know the agony of my spirit, 
save 

" He who rolls the planets in their spheres 
And counts the lowly mourner's tears" ? 

I thought it best to name my prospect to my two 
oldest children, a son sixteen and a daughter twelve. 
The reply of both was, " Go, mother," though their 
full hearts would hardly allow utterance until tears 
lent relief With me words were nearly lost in feel- 
ing as I stood on Jordan's bank again to tempt its 
fearful tide and deeper tread beneath its wave. I had 
sat down to compose my thoughts for meeting, with 
my grief-worn mother, by the side of the cradle where 
lay (all unconscious of the deep pangs that rent our 
hearts) my dear little Grelet, about ten months old. 
The rest had all come in and were seated around, 
when my dear James Parnell, as if fully conscious of 
what was passing in his mother's heart, took a book 
and commenced reading the following lines : 



VOYAGE 7V LIBERIA. 75 

"FORWARD AND FEAR NOT. 
" Forward and fear not; the billows may roll, 
But the power of Jehovah their rage can control. 
The waves are in anger, but their tumult shall cease; 
One word of His bidding will hush them to peace. 

" Forward and fear not ; though trials be near, 
The Lord is thy refuge ; whom shouldst thou fear ? 
His staff is thy comfort, thy safeguard His rod ; 
Be sober, be steadfast, and hope in thy God. 

" Forward and fear not ; though false ones deride, 
The hand of the Highest is with thee to guide ; 
His truth is thy buckler. His love is thy shield ; 
On, then, to the combat — be sure not to yield. 

" Forward and fear not ; be strong in the Lord, 
In the power of His promise, the trust of His word. 
Through the sea and the desert thy pathway may tend. 
But He who has saved thee will save to the end. 

" Forward and fear not ; speed on the way, 
"Why dost thou shrink from thy path in dismay ? 
Thou tread' st but the path that thy Leader hath trod ; 
Then forward and fear not, but trust in thy God." 

So appropriate and touching were the sentiments 
that we were brought into tenderness. 

I have had many fears that the weight of the im- 
portant visit will not be fully valued by all my dear 
friends. My earnest prayer has been that they may 
feel its weight as I have done, if it is of the Lord ; if 
not, that they may see it right to take the burden and 
release me. I have this day ventured in great fear and 
much trembling to open my prospect in the select 
meeting, and, to my trembling admiration, it fell with 
solemn weight and awfulness upon the assembly. The 
great Head of His own Church dispensed His holy 



J^i ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

power and presence and condescended to be a Spirit 
of judgment to those who sat in judgment, and an 
entire unity prevailed and cemented our hearts togeth- 
er in the strong bonds of gospel fellowship and love, 
and the great Name was held in reverence by those 
about Him. I feel somewhat relieved, and, having 
cast the burden upon my friends, the return of even- 
ing finds me trusting in my Saviour in sweet peace. 

To-day is our monthly meeting, my health very frail, 
and my spirit awfully bowed before the Most High. 
A sense of utter inability to proceed in this momentous 
subject brings my soul into the dust of death, but " I 
will look unto the hills from whence cometh my 
strength." I was unable to attend the first meeting, 
and in great bodily infirmity went to the last meeting 
to attend to the business before me. I was strengthened 
to stand up and to open to my dear friends the service 
on my mind for the Lord my God in a distant land. 
It fell with great impressiveness, and yet as the gentle 
dew, upon the solemn assembly, and all present seemed 
to have a sweet feeling of unity and sympathy. The 
mountains indeed flowed down at the presence of the 
Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. 

To-day our quarterly meeting convened, and it was 
signally owned by the holy Head. In and over the 
first meeting was a sweet solemnity, which lost none 
of its sweetness after separation to transact the weighty 
business of the Church, which to me never seemed 
more weighty. I was mercifully helped again to spread 
the important prospect before the Church, which received 
its full and cordial unity, and many living testimonials 
were given forth to the power and goodness of Him 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 7/ 

whose ways are not as our ways. My heart was rever- 
ently bowed before Him who makes a way through 
the roaring billows of discouragement and causeth the 
mountains to flee away at His presence before the foot- 
steps of His little ones. 

6th mo., Newport. Arrived on the island last evening, 
and to-day I have to bring my prospect before the 
Church in its select yearly meeting capacity. While 
I have not a doubt but the great Master requires me 
to make the sacrifice of laying the burden upon my 
friends for their disposal, I feel a fervent desire that we 
may not be permitted to proceed unless it is the Lord's 
will. May it please Him in whom are the treasures 
of wisdom and knowledge to dispense the spirit of 
wisdom and judgment to the Church, and may the 
awfulness of the service, with a sense of His dread 
majesty, power, and holy cementing love, mantle the 
whole assembly ! I took my seat with my friends as 
a weaned child, passive in His holy hands whose will 
only I wished to know and do, with great fear upon 
my spirit. The Lord helped me to declare unto the 
Church what seemed to be His holy will who declareth 
unto man what are His thoughts, who maketh the 
morning darkness and treadeth upon the high places 
of the earth. The Lord, the God of hosts, is His 
name. A solemn awe pervaded the assembly, and at 
the place of prayer each spirit seemed to wait until 
a door of communication was opened by Him who 
openeth and none can shut. The mind of the blessed 
Head through the eternal Spirit was given forth in 
many living testimonials. Great unity prevailed. The 
prophetic declaration seemed applicable : " God came 



78 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran; 
His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was filled 
with His praise." My soul returns unto her rest with 
songs of joy. The endorsements placed upon our 
certificates by the select meeting of ministers and 
elders have been read to-day, which brought the sub- 
ject again before the meeting, and it proved the calling 
of a solemn assembly and the charge reposed in the 
Church. Our beloved Benjamin Seebohm expressed, 
near the conclusion, that he had never seen the trust 
of disposing of these weighty affairs better redeemed 
than in the present instance. The convocation was 
concluded in reverent, fervent supplication by dear 
Lindley Murray Hoag, wherein near access was granted 
to the mercy-seat. We were committed to the holy 
keeping and safe guidance of the blessed Shepherd 
when we should be in distant lands across the great 
deep, and a rich heavenly blessing was implored upon 
our tender children, whom for Jesus' sake we must 
leave behind. 

This evening we had a youth's meeting, which, as it 
reflected no glory upon the creature, may have brought 
honor to the Creator. Our yearly meeting was highly 
blessed with the holy Presence, which continued through 
its several sittings. On leaving the island the language 
of my heart was, " Thou, O my Father, hast dealt very 
graciously with the last and least and most unworthy." 
But now comes the bitterness of death, to leave all 
most dear in this life and go with our lives in our 
hands at the bidding of the blessed Master ; but my 
earnest prayer is that we may be cheerful givers, for 
the Lord loveth such. Every step thus far has been 



FOVAGE TO LIBERIA. 79 

taken in the ability which He gives us. As He has 
ordered our steps, so may we be fully His. 

After reaching home we began making arrangements 
for embarking. It seemed best to break up the family, 
as no suitable person could be found to take care of the 
dear children, and we desired in this thing to be directed 
by Him who hath called us to His work. Our eldest 
son intends going to Haverford, \ Friends' college in 
Pennsylvania, with which we are well satisfied. As he is 
at the tender age of sixteen, we had felt much solicitude 
as to his place and associates, and this prospect seems 
favorable, as he will have good company, and dear 
Marmaduke and Sarah Cope of Philadelphia have 
most kindly offered to take particular charge of him. 

Many have been the marks of divine regard to us 
and ours. We had often thought of Liberia on the 
western coast of Africa as our first step, but thought 
we must of necessity go by way of England ; but in 
the midst of our arrangements we received intelligence 
that the Liberia packet was daily expected from the 
coast, and would return soon — that it was the safest 
and most comfortable conveyance, and that it would 
stop for a few days to two weeks at most of the 
principal ports on the African coast, so that we could 
lodge on board every night ; which was, with little ex- 
ception, an entire protection from the acclimating fever 
so dangerous to the life of a Northerner. We sought 
in this exigency divine direction, as we must leave so 
much sooner than we had planned. This brought the 
final parting so near that heart and flesh seemed to fail, 
and the dear children seemed much grieved and cast 
down at this sudden wrench, as it were, of heart from 



80 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

heart in the most tender and endearing relations. Our 
dear brother Cyrus seemed on the verge of eternity : 
we had hoped to have seen him quietly at rest ere we 
left our native land, and to have more time to visit our 
other beloved relatives. We were brought very low, 
even into the deeps, before the most high God, and 
there in fervent supplication raised our hearts to heaven 
in this our hour of need ; and the watchword was, 
" Gird on thy sword, take thy helmet and march ; the 
Lord hath need of thee now, for the enemy mustereth 
his host, and my soldiers must be in readiness." Im- 
palpable mountains seemed to intervene, and high and 
fearful swelled Jordan's deep waves. In this great 
strait the language was intelligible : " Stand still and 
see the salvation of God." 

yth mo. i^th, Second day. We received a telegraphic 
despatch that the ship would sail the 20th, which 
would occur the next First day. Our time seemed 
limited indeed. To-day our monthly meeting occur- 
red, and it was the greatest solemnity, I think, ever 
witnessed there. Then came the pangs of parting; 
the ties of consanguinity and gospel fellowship were 
being suddenly and unexpectedly torn asunder; we 
might meet again, but probably it was a final separa- 
tion to some present. Our hearts were poured out 
like water before the Lord and for each other's welfare. 
Several touching testimonies were given forth — I might 
safely say as the Spirit gave utterance. Dear James 
Owen from Indiana delivered a solemn and pathetic 
message touching the case of our immediate departure. 
Our prayers were that our departure from those with 
whom we had so long endeavored to labor faithfully 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 8 1 

might stimulate them to greater dedication and faith- 
fulness. 

iph. Making arrangements for our expedition, be- 
lieving it to be a divine opening for us, entirely without 
our aid or concern. This p. M. we must leave and pro- 
ceed as far as Vassalboro' to take the cars to-morrow 
morning. What tongue can tell my soul's anguish as 
the tears flowed fast from each child's almost bursting 
heart ? Had it not been for the gentle accents of a 
Saviour's love, " It is I, be not afraid ; leave thy chil- 
dren with me," I could not have left them. We took 
our dear children to the home of dear husband's father, 
two of whom — viz. Sybil Narcissa and Richard Mott 
— we intended to take to Providence School. There 
we must bid adieu to dear brother Cyrus, father and 
mother, brothers and sisters, and friends who had col- 
lected to take their leave. Here we had concluded to 
leave our little Susan Tabor, about three years and 
a half old, who would often look in my face and 
exclaim with a touching look that reached my very 
heart, *' Don't leave me, mother, thy little daughter ; 
I will be a nice little lady ; thee won't leave me, will 
thee ?" The strength of Israel was my confidence at 
that moment. Our dear brother took our hands, and 
after pronouncing the words, " The Lord be with you !" 
he whispered the last and sad farewell while all around 
were weeping. We then took an affectionate leave of 
all present, and left the sweet scenes of childhood for 
perhaps many a year. Then proceeded to our friend 
Daniel Runnel's, where was our Eli Grelet, not quite 
a year old. My heart yearned over this lovely boy, 
whom I must cast from me. Then we separated, 

6 



82 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

taking the train for Providence School and dear James 
Parnell, who was to take us to the cars. We arrived 
at our esteemed friend Alton Pope's, where many 
Friends had collected, among whom were the Indi- 
ana Friends and dear John D. Lang and wife. We 
sat down together for a little time, and great tender- 
ness and solemnity prevailed. I have lost two dear 
brothers and five sisters and an estimable father, but 
never did such hallowed, solemn, and unearthly feelings 
steal over my overcharged heart as on this memorable 
day. We rose early in the morning, and after taking 
leave of our much-loved friends, Alton and Theodate 
Pope, hastened to the cars. Dear James seemed more 
cheerful than I supposed he could be. At length we 
reached the depot, and the painful moment came to bid 
adieu to our dear child ; his bosom swelled with emotion 
and fast fell the bitter tears. W^ith a full heart I pro- 
nounced my last parting blessing : " Dearest boy, fare- 
well ; God bless and keep thee ! I make this request 
as though it were my last : give thy heart to thy dear 
Saviour now in thy youthful days ; He will comfort thy 
heart when we are far away." We arrived at New 
Bedford the same evening. On our way we paused a 
few minutes at Portland, met our dear friends R. and 
Sarah Horton, had a parting opportunity at the depot. 
Next stopped a few minutes at Lynn, and several 
friends accompanied us to Boston, where we had to wait 
about an hour, which was very pleasant, as the company 
of those dear friends was very cheering to us. They 
brought us several packages of useful and interesting 
things for our comfort on board of the ship. Our 
hearts were touched with grateful feelings for their 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. ^7, 

Christian kindness. At New Bedford lives my only- 
sister ; her health is so frail it is not probable (should 
we return) that she will survive till that time. 

i8th. This morning we took the cars for Providence. 
The children seemed to forget their trouble in their 
interest in new objects. We stopped about four hours 
in Providence, where we left the children and parted 
with our friends Joseph and Sybil Estes, who had 
accompanied us from Vassalboro'. We took our leave 
of the dear inmates of the Friends* school in a collec- 
tive capacity — a very solemn season, our two little ones 
being with them. We bowed before the Most High 
and commended them to the care of Him whose mercy 
endures for ever. The dear children, with several 
others, went with us to the depot, where dear Samuel 
Boice and wife joined us. We gave a farewell glance 
to all. The dear little ones' faces were bathed in tears. 
Here it would be proper to say that we received the 
kindest attention from the superintendents, Silas and 
Sarah Cornell, and many others. These dear friends 
exerted themselves to procure some more needful 
things for us with great interest. Having so little 
time, and going by the way of Africa, we were lacking 
in some things which they most kindly supplied. May 
Heaven's blessings rest upon them! 

yth mo. 20th, i8^i, Chesapeake Bay, on board Liberia 
packet. We arrived in Baltimore about ten o'clock 
last evening, and found the ship had left the wharf and 
stood off about eight miles waiting for us, and that we 
should be expected to be on board this morning. 
Having taken a solemn and affecting leave of the last 
familiar face in our native land, we retired to our room. 



84 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and, though now separated from all most dear, we felt 
the loving presence of our Saviour. 

2ist. Made some arrangements to fit up our little 
" floating home " to make it as agreeable as possible. 
Captain and officers very kind, and all seem inclined 
to try to make us happy. 

22d. Retired to our cabin after breakfast to read a 
portion of Scripture and to wait upon the Lord. I 
felt drawn to supplicate the throne of grace for all on 
board our frail bark, that the God of our lives would 
keep us in safety and bless and protect our precious 
children in our absence. Our time is mostly taken up 
in writing, as the pilot will return at the capes. Dear 
Eli is engaged a part of the day in teaching the emi- 
grants to read, cipher, etc. We have some interest- 
ing conversation with them, and find them as a whole 
rather intelligent, and even pious. 

24.th. Calms and head winds seem to be our daily 
portion, but the heavenly Pilot holds the ship and the 
winds in His holy hands. Teaching the emigrants 
and writing to our friends keep us busy; health com- 
fortable. 

26t]i. To-day brisk wind ; we expect to pass the 
capes. At six o'clock the pilot-boat came alongside 
and took off the pilot and a large package of letters. 
We shall not hear from home or have any means of 
sending intelligence until we reach Africa. 

2yt]i. We behold another morning in safety. It is 
First day, but fearful has been the night. We had a 
thunder-shower with furious w^inds. The rain fell in 
torrents and the thunder rolled deep, while the vivid 
lightning seemed to envelop the ship in liquid fire. 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 85 

Our trembling vessel would dash into ocean's depths 
apparently, and then rise upon the mountain wave. 
We were brought to test ourselves whether we were 
willing to make our graves in the caverns of the deep 
or gird on the armor for the Lord's battles. To-day 
we entered the Gulf Stream. We are making ten 
miles an hour. We are so enfeebled with last night's 
rolling that we are neither of us able to sit up. The 
approach of night again fills us with apprehension. 
The night again stormy. We looked up in that hour 
of dismay and found an eye to pity and an arm to 
save. 

2gth. Stormy night, exceedingly rough ; not safe to 
stay in our berths. With loss of appetite we are some- 
what reduced. Felt somewhat as Noah's weary dove 
that found no place of rest above the cheerless waters. 

^otli. Boisterous weather still, but we are rapidly 
Hearing Africa's distant coast. Our helpless souls 
hang on Thee. 

31st. Rather more calm. My dear Eli is improv- 
ing, though still feeble. A number of sweet little birds 
cheered us to-day, following the ship some distance. 
I think that they deserve a better name than " Mother 
Carey's chickens." At eleven o'clock we took our 
seats in our cabin (it being meeting-day at home) to 
try and worship Him who remains with them. Our 
spirits refreshed in blessed communion. At the even- 
ing sacrifice we had a fresh assurance of the angel of 
the Lord's presence. Delightful evening, every sail 
spread with fair wind. At twelve o'clock, 1360 miles 
from Cape Henry. We feel our infirmities, but can 
sing of the Lord's judgment and mercies. 



86 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

8ih mo. 2d. We have proceeded rapidly since leav- 
ing the capes ; this is the seventh day since leaving 
them, and we have gone two thousand miles. Provi- 
dence has sped us on our way. We find some very 
interesting persons among the emigrants, with whom 
we converse freely; we find them engaged to serve 
their God with diligence and love. 

First day. A most charming morning. At eleven 
o'clock we sat down in our little meeting. We have 
felt a very painful exercise since being on board this 
ship. Our souls have been lifted up to God alone, 
that He would order our service for Him among the 
inmates of the ship, and the time, not daring to move 
(whatever we may suffer with the burden upon our 
spirits) until the command is given : for this we wait 
in watchfulness and prayer. After meeting it seemed 
best to us to try for a meeting, and, no obstacle ap- 
pearing, at the time appointed nearly all assembled, 
and the short silence was blessed with His presence 
who is invisible. With awfulness and fear we ventured 
to make known our requests, and our dependent souls 
were made joyful in the house of prayer. Great 
solemnity pervaded the assembly, and these desperate 
spirits seemed contrited and made to fear. We were 
comforted with the spirits of a little band of humble 
followers of the Lord in this meeting, whom doubtless 
the Saviour loves. So great was my relief after this 
meeting that the language of my soul was, " Return 
unto thy rest, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with 
thee." Last night seemed sweet and peaceful. We 
heard neither oaths nor imprecations, with which our 
ears had been saluted many painful nights before our 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 8/ 

meeting. Fearfulness came upon us often when we 
heard the great Name blasphemed, and such angry- 
threats that we thought there was great danger of 
their kiUing each other. A great change is apparent, 
especially with the captain. May the Ancient of Days 
be honored for His power ! 

^th. This morning the ocean is very smooth, scarcely 
a breath to ruffle the blue. We have made little prog- 
ress for two days. A sail has been just in sight since 
First day p. m. We have been a little suspicious of 
it. This morning we discovered a small boat ap- 
proaching; there was considerable conjecture with 
regard to the business of the little messenger. She 
came alongside, containing six men, one of whom 
tremblingly ascended the side of the ship, assisted by 
a rope. He looked around, apparently with mingled 
emotions of hope and fear; his first idea must have 
been that we had a cargo of slaves. He was met with 
looks of kindness, and informed us that the first mate 
was ill and that he came to obtain some assistance. 
It seemed they had been as shy of us as we of them, 
but at length necessity had driven them to the haz- 
ardous attempt. We had a colored physician on board, 
but he seemed very unwilling to go with them, still 
fearing that some trick might be played upon us. My 
husband offered to go with them, for which my heart 
rejoiced, for I had felt a secret distress for them, and 
thought we might be becalmed for some good to them. 
The little boat left the ship, and had not rowed half the 
distance before a brisk fair wind arose and filled our 
flagging sails, and away we made for the disturbed 
vessel, and soon came alongside. The boat returned 



88 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

for medicine, etc. It affbrded my dear Eli great sat- 
isfaction to give them a little assistance from our small 
stock of comforts. To nearly all of us it seemed a 
providential interposition. A strong breeze now wafts 
us on with thankful hearts, I trust. The ship proved 
to be a whaler from Provincetown, out seven months. 
They wished for some books, and we had the pleasure 
of furnishing them with several interesting books, 
tracts, and papers, with which they seemed delighted. 
To-day we take the trade-winds, so that we have a fair 
prospect of a quick voyage ; for this we feel we depend 
on Him who commands the wind. It seems that all 
hearts on board try to manifest their kindness and 
respect. 

6th. Every sail filled with a delightful breeze. Were 
greatly refreshed together in reading and meditation 
upon Him who is our only crown of rejoicing in our 
low estate. Ability was granted to ask a blessing on 
the dear children. We have a very pleasant company 
— have not heard a profane word since the meeting. 
I never saw so great a change in a ship's crew. It is 
indeed the Lord's doings. 

Saw a nautilus to-day. It spread its thin sail to 
catch the rising breeze. The sailors call it a " Por- 
tuguese man-of-war." Dear Eli is quite seasick to-day. 
At eleven o'clock sat down with as many emigrants 
as could be comfortably seated in our cabin, to try to 
worship Him who graciously sustains us upon Ishe 
rolling deep. It proved a season of heavenly com- 
munion. 

8th ino.jd, Sixth day, lat. 33° 53' N., long. 36° W. 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 89 

A school of porpoises played round the ship for some 
time this morning. They seemed delighted at amusing 
us, jumping several feet out of the water and darting 
to and fro. We seemed nearing the shores of such 
intense interest to most on board, and, though a sea- 
life is not desirable, I do not feel anxious about reach- 
ing Africa. Great and fearful is our responsibility, and 
dangers seen and unseen are in this untrod path. May 
the God of our salvation have mercy upon us and 
direct our every step ! 

First day, loth. Unable to sit up this morning. Dear 
Eli sat by my birth during meeting-hour, and our hearts 
were raised in aspiration heavenward, p. m. Able to 
sit up toward evening, and we concluded that it would 
be best to try for a meeting, which collected a little 
after sunset under a clear sky and a full moon, all 
canvas filled. The moon shed a mild intermingled 
gleam through the shrouds of our gallant ship, and 
delightful indeed were our meditations. The silence 
was at length broken by dear Eli in a feeling testimony 
to the universality of divine grace. The people were 
encouraged to forsake their sins and come to Jesus the 
Saviour of the world. It was a sweet, heavenly season. 
We felt to tell them that it was not a light thing to be 
thus remembered by Him who rolls the planets in 
their spheres. A great change is apparent in all on 
board. Everything is almost as we could wish, com- 
pared with what it was when we came. May we do 
nothing to diminish the reputation of our beloved 
Society ! 

The captain says that we are about six hundred 
miles from the coast of Africa in a straight line. 



90 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

iph of 8th mo. Saw a whale to-day : shall pass the 
tropic of Cancer to-night; chilly. About two days' 
sail from Cape Verde. 

lyth. Cool and pleasant, very different from expecta- 
tion in a tropical climate. I have been ill to-day ; dear 
Eli somewhat better. It being First day, we were 
present in spirit with our friends at home in their meet- 
ing. Spoke a ship, and the captain and dear Eli took 
boat and went off to her. She proved to be the St. 
Paul, bound to Cowes. We sent a few lines home by 
her. 

20th. A dreadful storm is on the main, and our 
ship is like a leaf in the winds. Several sails are split, 
and we may lose all before morning. 

2ist. My dear Eli is not able to sit up much, which 
saddens me. 

2^tk. But little progress. I do not feel much anx- 
iety but for my dear Eli, who seems failing every day 
from loss of appetite and want of things to make him 
comfortable, and for the poor emigrants, many of 
whom suffer from the same causes. 

26th. This evening there is quite an excitement on 
board. My Eli discovered land ; the captain thinks it 
may be Grand Cape Mount. The captain just called 
us on deck and a novel scene presented itself. Our 
ship seemed gliding through a stream of liquid fire, 
while each crested wave shed a beautiful silver light 
amid sparkling gems that bespangled the whole face 
of the deep. Thinking we might soon reach land, it 
seemed right to have another opportunity with the 
emigrants, which we obtained this p. m. We felt an 
impression that some one present would soon be taken 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 9I 

home to rest in Jesus. It proved a satisfactory season, 
thankfully received by them. 

28th. This morning early we were saluted with the 
joyful intelligence that we were near Cape Mesurado. 
We hastened on deck, and once more beheld the 
" dark green robes of earth," which never seems so 
lovely as after a sea-voyage. The noble promontory 
is nearly covered with a thick forest, interwoven with 
luxuriant vines that hang in rich drapery from the 
branches of the trees, and the stately palm tree rears 
its lofty head high in air, like some tall cliff. It was 
Nature in her chastest charms arrayed. Soon my 
thoughts were diverted from this deeply interesting 
scene to one as novel as can well be imagined. The 
native canoes appeared, manned by natives without 
clothing. Soon the water seemed almost alive with 
them, and the air rang with strange sounds. We made 
ready to go on shore. I cannot describe my feelings 
at this moment, but, like Peter, I thought that I must 
call nothing common or unclean that God had cleansed. 
The captain, dear Eli, and I were soon seated in one 
of our boats manned by natives, and in a few minutes 
passed the bar in safety and reached the city of Mon- 
rovia, just in rear of the cape, and with grateful 
emotions set our feet on the shores of Africa. 

B. V. R. James welcomed us to the shore, and kindly 
invited us to go to his house and refresh ourselves. 
We proceeded up a gentle ascent through the city as 
far as his house — were pleasantly received ; took break- 
fast and dined with them. Called on President Roberts 
and his wife, who received us cordially ; delivered our 
papers and letters ; they kindly invited us to call again 



92 ELI AND SYBIL jONES. 

and make our home with them if agreeable. Called 
also at James B. McGill's, a very interesting family, 
and returned before nightfall to our floating home. It 
has been a fine day, though in the midst of the rainy 
season. 

2gth. Just returned from shore ; had a pleasant day 
and a delightful walk. Took breakfast at James Mc- 
Gill's, who with his pleasant wife entertained us very 
cheerfully. Dined with Beverly Wilson, a Methodist 
minister, who with his wife interested us highly. 
Visited the Alexander high school, B. V. R. James 
teacher. It contained seventy scholars, fifty of whom 
were present. They reflected credit on their compe- 
tent teacher by their advancement and circumspect 
demeanor. We thought them as good scholars as 
those of the same age in America. We imparted 
some religious instruction and suggested some trifling 
improvements, with which the pious teacher and pupils 
seemed pleased. One is our Master, even Christ, and 
all we are brethren. 

^oth. Morning rainy; dear Eli has been ashore; 
thinks the place increases in interest every time he 
visits it. He has made two appointments for to-mor- 
row, one at the Methodist and one at the Baptist house. 

j/i-^, First day. Morning rainy, but we thought best 
to try and meet our appointments. Arrived in time, 
but got somewhat wet ; changed clothes. We felt it 
to be no ordinary occasion as we passed through the 
throng to our seats and then mingled in sweet and 
sacred communion for the first time with dear brethren 
and sisters in a distant land, for whose souls we had 
long borne the burden of a dying Saviour's love. The 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 93 

silence was impressive, and the streams of that river 
that gladdens the heritage of God circulated sweetly- 
through the assembly. The holy fervor of gospel love 
filled our hearts to the great abasedness of the creature. 
Ability was given us to show forth that living faith 
that works by love to the purifying of the heart, and 
to point out the difference between this saving faith 
and a dead faith that the world and its spirit will over- 
come. We were melted together as the heart of one 
man. The Lord reigned gloriously. At the close of 
this solemnity the people wished to get our hands, 
giving demonstrations of great joy at meeting us, and 
bidding us welcome to their shores with great blessing. 
Dined at James B. McGill's. Our afternoon meeting 
was increasingly interesting. We were led to explain 
the nature of that worship which only can be accept- 
able to God. Returned to our ship with the testimony 
sealed upon our heads. Not unto us, but unto Thy 
great Name, be all the honor. 

^th mo. jst. Morning rainy ; had to remain in the 
packet; evening more pleasant. Passed our time in 
writing, reading, etc. 

gth mo. 2d, Third day. Morning rainy ; dear E. went 
ashore. He seems quite improved, which is very 
cheering. We feel quite at home on board, though 
far away dwell the hearts bound to us by the tender- 
est ties. 

^d: We went on shore and called on Sarah Smith, a 
pious colored woman who keeps a place of refreshment ; 
then called on President Roberts and wife, and had a 
very interesting conversation on several subjects rela- 
tive to the interest and welfare of the republic. The 



94 £LI AND SYBIL JONES. 

President was truly courteous and affable. In his 
manner there is an elegant simplicity adorned with 
Christian piety. He said, " I am truly thankful the 
Lord has sent you here, and for your prayers for us in 
your native land." His wife's highest ornament is 
piety, which is sweetly cherished in her gentle heart. 
After dinner, accompanied by the President and his 
wife, we repaired to the Presbyterian place of worship 
(a previous appointment). The house was crowded, 
but orderly and still. It was given us to deal very 
plainly with the people. 

/fih. Raining ; dear E. went on shore and visited a 
native town, with which he was much interested. I 
felt the privation of remaining in the ship; I was 
somewhat impatient at being confined in my cage-like 
cabin. The deck being very wet, I was somewhat cir- 
cumscribed, but in settling up the day's accounts I did 
not feel fully satisfied, and my earnest prayer is that 
I may keep my mind stayed on the Lord. 

^th. Just returned from shore ; have enjoyed the 
day much. Visited a private school taught by 
Georgianna Johnson, and suggested some improve- 
ments. Called on President Roberts and wife (they 
being directors of two or more female benevolent 
societies) to obtain their consent to meet those societies 
at their own time and place. We met them the follow- 
ing day, and had a very interesting conference. Sug- 
gested some improvements, such as ameliorating the 
condition of those immigrants, many of whom are 
destitute of employment or not willing to work, who 
lead a wretched life of indolence and consequently 
vice. The President said that it was a source of much 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 95 

solicitude to himself; he was fearful of the continuance 
of this state of things. We suggested a house of in- 
dustry. This struck him pleasantly as the very anti- 
dote needed. Called at George R. Ellis's, who is a 
magistrate. We were kindly received. 

6th. Went on shore ; had a very interesting oppor- 
tunity with the Ladies' Association (some of the most 
intelligent females in Liberia). They managed their 
business in a correct and orderly manner, and by their 
records and accounts show that they are doing much 
for suffering humanity here. The emancipated slaves are 
sent here nearly penniless, except their portion of land, 
which is an unbroken forest, and six months' pro- 
visions, which are exhausted during the process of 
acclimating. The fever reduces them much. It is the 
judgment of the most intelligent residents of Liberia 
that it is best for the immigrants soon after their 
arrival to take up their farms and work a small portion 
of each day, clearing their land and planting sweet 
potatoes, and with the abundance of fruit growing 
around them they could live comfortably. This has 
been tried by some, and far less die. With the fever 
much depends on keeping up the courage; there is 
but little chance for those who abandon exercise. 

yth. We went on shore at an early hour ; took break- 
fast at Uriah McGill's. Went to a First-day school 
containing ninety-four children, twenty-five of whom 
are natives ; the latter are not able to read the Bible. 
At half-past two attended a meeting for the children. 
The Baptist house, being the largest, was selected, and 
was well filled; they were orderly and attentive. I 
trust impressions were made that will never be effaced. 



96 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

8th. E. went on shore. In the afternoon he returned 
with our valued friend James B. McGill and two colored 
ladies, with their servants, the latter going to Green- 
ville, Sinon county. We left the shores of Monrovia 
with a comfortable evidence that our labors were ac- 
ceptable to Him who had sent us forth. We were 
quite cheered with the prospect of saying that we had 
personal acquaintances in Liberia. 

()t]i. Anchored in Bassa Cove. Thank God for the 
blessings and mercies that have attended us on this 
embassy of love ! 

nth. Came to anchor off Greenville. 

13th. Went on shore and made arrangements for 
meetings — in the morning at the Baptist house, in the 
afternoon at the Presbyterian. The Methodist minister 
cordially invited us to attend the afternoon sitting of 
the quarterly meeting, saying the meeting should be 
at our disposal to worship in our own way. We were 
refreshed in the Lord. 

First day, i/fth. Had good meetings. At the Presby- 
terian house many stood about, not able to get inside. 
We were blessed together in heavenly places. Dined 
at Judge Murray's. 

Second day, i^th. Set sail for Cape Palmas ; anchored 
on account of head winds. I fear we cannot visit the 
town, Settra Kroo. 

i6th. We are in sight of Settra Kroo still. May the 
Lord keep us in safety ! 

lyth. At anchor off Nasma Kroo ; went on shore ; 
called at the only two colonist houses there, then 
visited the native village. Here a strange scene pre- 
sented itself: the females were entirely naked, except 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 9/ 

a small covering about the loins, mothers with their 
naked infants on their backs, from one month old and 
upward ; lasses with their skin painted indelible black 
and shining with palm oil, with which they are be- 
smeared, came in crowds and surrounded us, gazing 
at me, crying, " White mammy ;" others ran from us 
with fear. We gave the mothers some crackers, and 
soon every one that could get a child (sometimes quite 
as big as the pretended mother herself) had one packed 
on her back to get a cracker also. They are a very 
shrewd people — fine forms and well-proportioned. We 
visited the queen, who has a separate room in the king's 
house. He was absent; she received us quite gra- 
ciously : her body was striped with white paint. We 
thought best to try for a meeting. The king's house 
was selected. One of the natives undertook to notify 
the meeting. He passed on before us, stopping at each 
house, and very soon the people might be seen running 
from every point toward the house where they were to 
have a " God palaver," as they call it. A number gath- 
ered. A native named Giando undertook to interpret 
for us. They were attentive — promised with clamorous 
acclamation that they would do as we told them. The 
meeting was relieving, and we have great cause for 
gratitude. Before we left the village several females 
had painted their faces white, which made them look 
ridiculous in the extreme. 

i8th. Set sail for Cape Palmas again. Came to 
anchor after sunset. 

igth. Went on shore ; called at Dr. McGill's '; they 
received us pleasantly. He occupies the vacancy made 
by the lamented death of Governor Rupworm. Dined 



98 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

at F. Burns's, the Methodist minister. We were inter- 
ested in the information they gave us of the colony 
and natives. The latter have three villages very com- 
pact, and with all the heathen customs, the most dis- 
gusting of which is their unclad forms that are seen 
in every direction, forming a striking contrast to the 
neat dwellings, decent clothing, and intelligent counte- 
nances of the colonists. On the outermost point of 
this high promontory is a lighthouse, and about it the 
colonists^ houses stand surrounded with fine gardens 
and the beautiful African fruit trees. Made an appoint- 
ment at the Methodist house for to-morrow. 

20th. We have not been able to meet our appoint- 
ment, the swell is so great. We have been somewhat 
disappointed in not getting to town, but are sure that 
all is well under the supervision of Him who com- 
mands the elements in His own consummate wisdom. 

2ist, First day. Beautiful morning; got safely on 
shore, and had a large meeting in the Methodist house. 
In the sweet covenant of peace and joy the meeting 
closed. 

22d. Got on shore, and rode in a small carriage 
drawn by natives about two miles into the country, 
accompanied by Dr. McGill and his amiable wife. 
Delighted with the scenery. The dwellings of the 
colonists are comfortable, but most of their farms are 
uncultivated; very rich soil. We have a strong 
apology to make for the indolence in Africa: most 
of the settlers hitherto are emancipated slaves, worn 
out with hard service in the land of oppression, from 
which they have been sent after their spirits and 
strength are wasted by unrequited toil. Then they 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 99 

meet this enervating climate. A number of energetic 
husbandmen should be sent out with every colony to 
inspire them. Manual-labor schools would doubtless 
succeed here, but the present operations must fail to 
arrive at the happy results anticipated by the philan- 
thropists. 

2jd. Went on shore and had a most interesting 
meeting with the children. Many youthful eyes were 
bedewed with tears as they heard the glad tidings of 
a Saviour's love. 

2ph. Had a meeting at the Episcopal house. The 
Lord was with us. We gave books and tracts. 

2^th, We were saddened by the conviction that some 
of us would meet no more on earth. We left Cape 
Palmas with an additional interest for Africa. We feel 
that we are only the pioneers — that the Lord will send 
yet more honorable members of his household to this 
land. 

2'/th. Very weak. Came to anchor off Sinon. My 
E. went on shore, but I thought best to remain, write, 
and arrange for to-morrow. E. returned wearied, but 
much delighted with his excursion into the country. 

28th. Went early on shore, and, taking our vessel's 
boat and crew, proceeded up the Sinon River about 
two miles to a colonist settlement. Our meeting was 
well attended and the word was heard with gladness. 
We walked in a footpath some distance in a smart 
shower, and were wet and much fatigued. Rested and 
dried our clothes a little before the meeting. The 
people more industrious than any we have seen before 
in Liberia. 

joih. Went on shore ; had a meeting in the Baptist 



100 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

house. It was a final parting and a heavenly season. 
No doubt that we shall have the prayers of these dear 
people. 

loth mo. jd. Anchored this p. m. off Bassa. 

^th. Went on shore, but with much difficulty, it being 
the worst bar on the coast. We proceeded along the 
coast until we found a place to land in safety. The 
natives managed with great skill, and as soon as we 
came near land they sprang into the water and caught 
me, and in a minute set me down high and dry, seem- 
ingly highly gratified, exclaiming " Mammy no wet." 
We called at a little cabin and got a cup of tea made, 
and when the rain subsided we proceeded to the town. 
Beautiful country, covered with orange trees and gua- 
va, but farms sadly neglected. I think the plough is 
needed as much as missionary labors, for without the 
former the latter cannot accomplish much. 

p. M. Very rainy ; had a ride in a hammock, or rather 
a substitute for one — a piece of native cloth with the 
ends fastened together with ropes, and a pole passed 
through loops ; the poles rested on the natives' shoul- 
ders. It was placed on the ground for me to step in 
and lie down, but I begged the privilege of walking, 
which was refused, as it would injure my health, for the 
rain was pouring. I did not like it, although I did not 
get wet. The idea of a bier was constantly presenting 
itself, together with the fear that it was too great a 
burden for the poor natives. A terrible storm came 
up on our way back to the ship, and we nearly lost 
our lives in the angry waves. 

5^/?, Fii'st day. Had a meeting in the evening on 
board, as it was very rainy. In retirement this day we 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 10 1 

could say with the Psalmist, " How precious are thy 
thoughts unto me !" 

yth. Went ashore and had a meeting at Edina, on 
the north side of the St. John's River. It proved a 
memorable solemnity. 

8th. Went on shore and had a meeting on the south 
side of the St. John's, at Bassa. The blessed Head of 
the Church was pleased to feed the hungering multi- 
tudes through His poor instruments. A number col- 
lected to witness our departure, and we took an affec- 
tionate leave of them, mingled with sadness, on our 
final departure from Bassa Cove. 

Set sail about five o'clock with a brisk wind, which 
would take us to Monrovia by sunrise, but it soon 
became calm, and we came to anchor. The Lord 
knows what is best. 

gth. We are quite anxious as we approach Monrovia, 
for here we must decide whether to remain in Africa 
and wait a passage to England (should none offer be- 
fore the packet leaves), or return to Boston and thence 
embark to Liverpool. I trust we are resigned to either 
as the Lord wills. 

loth. Anchored off Cape Mesurado. Dear Eli went 
on shore and found letters from home. We read them 
together with much joy, as they contained intelligence 
that all was well with the dear children and those at 
home. Boundless is our debt of gratitude. One of the 
immigrants who was in good health at the time of our 
last meeting on board is dead. We learned that she 
died in peace, but was cruelly treated by her husband. 

nth. Went on shore accompanied by the President's 
wife. I took a bundle of tracts and visited all the sick 



102 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and infirm, distributing tracts and imparting such mes- 
sages of gospel love as were given me. 

First day^ 12th. Went on shore quite comfortably, 
although it was wet, and attended a meeting at the 
Baptist house. Our meetings here have been signally 
blessed. Truly the Lord's name is great in Zion. 

zj//?. Rainy, but got on shore, and made calls and 
distributed tracts. No way opens yet for Sierra Leone. 
We are wholly dependent on Kim who makes a way. 

I4.th. Called at U. McGill's, J. B. McGill's, Beverley 
Willson's. I then distributed tracts, and I think that 
I never saw so much gratitude manifested in any part 
of the world I ever visited. As I passed their little 
cots they followed me in numbers ; even children 
joined, holding out their hands begging for a tract. 
At length all were gone, but a few more on board. 

i^th. Dear Eli went up the river St. Paul, and visited 
New Georgia, Upper and Lower Caldwell, Virginia, and 
Kentucky. I spent the day making calls and giving 
tracts. 

lyth. It is a time of seeking the Lord among the 
people. The youth are flocking to the Saviour. May 
a glorious accession be made to the militant Church 
from Africa ! 

igth. Went on shore, and had a meeting at the 
Methodist house, and it was a solemn occasion, as it 
was our final meeting. 

20th. Went on shore for the last time, as the ship 
would sail at three o'clock. Made several calls, one on 
a sick immigrant from Antigua. Has been sick seven 
months, reduced to a skeleton ; said he had a wife and 
two children in his native land. As he spoke of them 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. IO3 

his eyes filled with tears, and " God's will be done !'* 
fell from his trembling lips. 

I went with some ladies to the highest point of this 
commanding promontory. Had a fine view of the 
town and mountains toward the interior. We met 
many a smiling face and heard many a " Thank you " 
as we stopped at the little cots to distribute tracts. 
The Liberians are very anxious to get these little mes- 
sengers, and read them with interest. We hope they 
may be a blessing to them. I handed one to an aged 
woman, who clasped it to her bosom and exclaimed, 
" The Lord bless you ! I will keep it to read while 
I live, and when I die I will have it put into my 
coffin." 

We have left Monrovia, and as the land recedes from 
view the pangs of separation from many, if not all, are 
keenly realized, not only by us, but by the group on 
shore. But as the clouds dispersed around the setting 
sun his last sweet rays rested upon the rich foliage, 
and then, veiling his face in a mantle of crimson clouds, 
withdrew. We leave Africa with sheaves of peace. 

2ist. Made little progress to-day. Though our re- 
turning in the ship is very unexpected, yet all is peace, 
and it seems to us to be in the will of Him who 
brought us in safety across the mighty deep. No way 
has opened for us to go to Sierra Leone or England. 
We intend to return to America (if no new opening 
appears) and embark at Boston for Liverpool. In this 
way we may see our little ones ; which seems almost 
too great a favor. We have thoughts of stopping 
at St. Thomas, and thence prosecuting our contem- 
plated visit among the islands, if we can make an 



104 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

arrangement with the captain that will answer and it 
seems right. 

22d. Delightful weather. This morning in silent 
waiting before the Lord He gave us to feel His holy 
presence near, and an assurance that He would still 
lead us and instruct us. 

2^d. The captain concludes to leave us at St. Thomas 
if we desire it. We had looked toward home, but the 
prospect seems somewhat like closing up. The will 
of the Lord be done ! 

Some swallows appeared this morning and flew into 
the cabin. They lingered about all day. They may 
be emigrants from cold New England's clime. They 
brought with them sweet thoughts of scenes and lands 
far over the blue depths of ocean. 

28i]i. Clear weather. Think it may be best to aban- 
don the thought of returning home, and stop at St. 
Thomas, one of the West Indies, and commence our 
next labors. This seems a favorable opening, for a 
Northern tour will be too great a change of climate. 
My health seems greatly improved by a warm climate. 

30th, Fh'st day. We sat down for meeting together, 
it being meeting-day at home. We felt as the disciples 
journeying toward Emmaus ; we felt our hearts warmed 
and tendered together. 

31st, St. Thomas is in our minds' view, but whether 
we shall get there or not lies in the bosom of futurity. 
It will probably take two weeks longer to reach there 
if the ship touches it. Our daily prayer is to be directed 
aright. 

nth mo. 1st. Dear Eli is much better, and my health 
is quite good. The cook is quite sick ; I fear he will 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 105 

not recover. He is in great distress both of mind and 
body. How wise to prepare for such an awful time in 
health ! 

2d. Last evening we read a chapter by the bedside 
of the distressed sailor. My heart was poured out in 
prayer. 

jd. We are sailing ten knots an hour toward our 
native land. The captain does not think, on further 
reflection, that he can consistently stop at St. Thomas. 
We had given up to go if the way had been clear, and 
therefore think the hand of the Lord is in it. He will 
accept the will for the deed. The cook seems recover- 
ing, and truly penitent. He told me that a testimony 
delivered at our last meeting on board was for him. 
He has been previously a very profane and wicked 
man. This is a fresh instance of the mercy and long- 
suffering of the Lord. 

6tk. We are approaching our native land with the 
sheaves of peace, but feeling still bound to the work, 
not knowing the things that may await us there. May 
my whole life be dedicated to His service, who has so 
remarkably blessed my going out and coming in ! 

20th. The captain concludes to set his course for 
Baltimore, hoping to reach Cape Henry before our 
stores fail. 

gth. About ten o'clock a pilot-boat came alongside 
and left a pilot. Providence permitting, we may soon 
set our feet on the wharf at Baltimore. Soon we must 
bid adieu to our home upon the ocean. We are en- 
couraged with the regular and sober deportment of all 
on board, and, though our passage has been a pro- 
tracted one, we do not regret it, while we have beheld 



I06 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

with thankfulness the operation of the Lord's hand 
upon the crew of our brave ship, to which, with its 
inmates, we shall now bid adieu with emotions of glad- 
ness and regret. Oh may all that have sailed together 
here anchor at last in the kingdom of God ! Farewell ! 

Soon after their return Eli Jones wrote an article for 
the Friends' Review setting forth the conditions of this 
African colony, and recommending that some more 
work be done to help these enterprising freedmen and 
the less enlightened native tribes within the republic 
of Liberia. The article was reprinted, and was read 
by many. Still later, while at work in North Carolina, 
he received a call from the president of the African 
Colonization Society to attend one of their meetings 
in Washington, which he accordingly did. As he 
entered the hall where the exercises were being held 
a gentleman was delivering a discourse in which he 
endeavored to show the impossibility of an equality 
between negroes and white men, and consequently the 
hazardousness of the experiment of allowing them to 
rule themselves. The chairman then announced that 
the next speaker was to have been Eli Jones, but that 
he had not yet seen him. 

To his surprise, a man rose in the back of the hall, 
threw off his overcoat, and came to the platform. He 
gave his name as the one called for, and began to give 
his knowledge and opinion of Liberian colonization. 
He took as his text the remark of the former speaker, 
saying that he as a landowner and tiller of the soil 
went from Maine to Liberia, where he stood on an 
equality with the landowners there; but as he came 



VOYAGE TO LIBERIA. 10/ 

in the presence of President Roberts there was not an 
equality, since he, the white man, stood below the vig- 
orous, wise, strong-minded colored President of the 
republic. From that he spoke for an hour feelingly 
and emphatically on the excellence of the work going 
on in Africa, at the same time impressing the need of 
further aid. 



CHAPTER VII. 

WORK IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 

" Their single aim the purpose to fulfil 
Of truth from day to day; 
Simply obedient to its guiding will, 

They held their pilgrim way. 
Yet dream not hence the beautiful and old 

Were wasted on their sight 
Who in the school of Christ had learned to hold 
All outward things aright." 

Whittier. 

Eli and Sybil Jones reached Baltimore in the middle 
of winter, and experienced the joy of being once more 
among Friends and in their own loved country'. Hav- 
ing been kept and continually supported to accomplish 
their work, they now were filled with thanksgiving to 
Him whose pillar of cloud and fire had gone before 
them by day and by night, and they were prepared in 
spirit for the still longer journey which was before 
them. They visited friends and relatives on their 
way to Maine, and were everywhere joyfully received. 
Their children had all passed the time of their absence 
pleasantly, and had gained in mental and physical 
growth. 

It was an interesting sight when their townsmen met 
to welcome them home. One can see them in the 
-monthly meeting, which was held at this time. Many 
who came but seldom, rode over the hills that day to 

108 



WORK IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. IO9 

sit down on the unpainted seats and listen if they did 
not worship, and an unusually large number were 
present when the hushed stillness told that meeting 
had begun. One father and the mothers of the two 
ministers were there, brothers and sisters, uncles and 
aunts ; many who had always known them, and some 
who had never seen them, — all bowed their heads before 
the Mighty One, and 

*' Low breathings stole 
Of a diviner life from soul to soul, 
Baptizing in one tender thought the whole." 

Even the cold-hearted felt a warmth steal in, and 
the low-spirited were exalted in their minds. No 
one who sat under that silence doubted that the 
Lord was speaking to "the spirit's finer ear;" 
and when the seal was broken and the moved lips 
opened in vocal thanksgiving many hearts rose in 
harmony. A brief, quiet prayer from a full heart, 
when the spirit of the whole meeting rises with it, 
reaches where eye cannot see, and comes not back 
void. Words are human, but power is divine. 

We can see Eli Jones rise from his wonted seat and 
slowly speak his text : " When the poor and needy 
seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth 
for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of 
Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in 
high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. 
I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry 
land springs of water." His companion sees many 
before her who have grown cold while they have been 
answering the call from Ethiopia, and sweetly she asks 



I lO ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

them to whom they will go if they forsake Him who 
alone has the words of eternal life. Together they 
sound the alarm and call upon their friends and neigh- 
bors to stand firm and quit them like men while they 
go out again to reap in other vineyards. At the close 
of this day Sybil Jones could say, " He brought us 
unto his banqueting-house, and the banner over us 
was Love." 

Once more they separated from home-friends and 
took their little children to West Hill, N. J., the lovely 
home of Eliza P. Gurney, who had asked that the two 
youngest boys, Eli Grelet and Richard Mott, might be 
left with her during their parents' absence. . . . On 
First day they attended the meeting at Burlington, and 
sat in company with Stephen Grelet and Richard Mott, 
for whom the boys had been named. Stephen Grelet, 
that great apostle, who had given messages from the 
King of kings to potentates and princes in all the coun- 
tries of Europe, who had shown men's equality by hold- 
ing his finger to the Pope's extended finger, and who 
was now waiting to be ushered into another and a higher 
court, addressed them thus : " The Lord has provided 
for your children in your absence, and thus given strik- 
ing demonstration of His love to you ; and now this 
testimony is applicable to you, my dear friends : * I will 
be with thee whithersoever thou goest, and will guide 
thee with mine eye, and afterward receive thee into 
glory;' so go, dear friends, cheerfully, for the Lord 
will be your all-sufficient Helper." 

After visiting their other children, at Haverford 
College and at Providence, they finally sailed from 
Boston the 31st of 3d mo. on the steamer " Niagara" 



WORK IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 1 1 1 

for Liverpool. A goodly company of Friends from 
Lynn and elsewhere were on the wharf to wave them 
adieu. 

It was an uneventful passage, except that an iceberg 
was discovered exactly in their course just in time to 
turn the ship from the danger. Sybil Jones writes of 
it : " I got on deck while it was in full view, and gazed 
with wonder and delight upon this magnificent frosty 
traveller from the frigid North to milder skies. It 
seemed like an island all of light consolidated into 
form, or as a cathedral whose stately spires pierced the 
eternal sunshine. The first rays of the morning sun 
gave to its pure, spotless whiteness a brilliancy and 
beauty that seemed almost of heavenly extraction. It 
reminded us of the infinitely more splendid and soul- 
ravishing charms of nature's God and heaven's eternal 
King, of whose mercy it seemed the white-robed har- 
binger." 

On their return voyage, the ship, sailing at a rapid 
rate in a dense fog, found itself almost upon a gigantic 
iceberg, a mighty pyramid of ice. It seemed to all on 
board that the ship must be crushed. An infidel who 
was a fellow-passenger hurried on deck and cried out, 
" In an hour we shall all be lost, but let us die like 
philosophers." — '* No," said Sybil Jones, rising to her 
feet ; " if we are to meet death, let us do it as Chris- 
tians." In God's goodness all were spared. 

They were delighted with their first sight of England, 
to find such abundant verdure instead of the snow and ice 
which they left on the hills of New England, and they 
were more delighted still to find warm hearts waiting 
for them, among whom was Benjamin Seebohm, who 



112 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

had been a former messenger of good to them. It was 
nearly time for Dublin yearly meeting to begin, and 
they crossed over to Ireland to attend it. This was an 
occasion of great interest, and the two American Friends 
had weighty service to perform; but Sybil Jones was 
taken ill with severe irritation of the spine while the 
meeting was still in session. She finally found relief 
for that time, and was able to attend some of the meet- 
ings. Their friend Mary James Lecky was always 
ready to attend to their comfort, and they did not 
want for pleasant homes. 

Their visit to Balitore is thus described : " We left 
for Balitore in the comfortable coach of our dear friend 
Mary J. Lecky. Our route was most pleasant and in- 
teresting — beautiful groves, rich fields of waving grain, 
with herds and flocks scattered over the flowery lawns ; 
stately dwellings and white cottages, with now and 
then some ancient castle in ruins, wearing a vesture of 
deep green woven by the evergreen ivy, which flou- 
rishes in rich foliage on its time-beaten walls and di- 
lapidated towers. The golden furze may be seen in 
abundance on hill and dale, and is a lovely ornament 
to the variegated scene. The hedges that skirt the 
way are bespangled with yellow and crimson primroses, 
bluebells, violets, and many other little wild flowers, 
forming a radiant wreath entwined with the graceful 
ivy. We admired the scene, and talked much of Erin, 
the green isle of the ocean. At one o'clock we arrived 
at Balitore, or, as it is sometimes called, the * Classic 
Vale.' Dear Elizabeth Barrington — the * Princess Eliza- 
beth,' as she is sometimes called — gave us a cordial 
welcome. The charms of this little village, loveliest 



WORK IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 1 1 3 

of the plain, are sweetly enhanced by the memory of 
departed worth, talent, genius, virtue and piety which 
once flourished here."* 

Day after day they attended meetings and visited 
families, though Sybil Jones was in such a state of 
health that it was merely her will which kept her from 
bed ; she continually spoke of the " frailty of the taber- 
nacle," but the strength of the spirit forced the body 
to obey and do its part of the work ; and as the time 
drew near for the London yearly meeting they turned 
thither. Everywhere they directed their eyes a new 
beauty of landscape, a majesty of mountain, or a charm 
of antiquity met them ; but Sybil Jones was forced to 
close her eyes on all this outward loveliness, and as 
as she rode along, reclining on her seat, she comforted 
herself " in the presence of Him who verily knows 
what is best for us ; health and life, with every other 
blessing, are in his hand." 

The meeting began on the 17th of Fifth month, and 
now for the first time in their lives they were sitting in 
the parent yearly meeting of the Society of Friends. 
For more than two hundred years the Friends of Great 
Britain have annually assembled in London, and the 
power of these meetings is wonderful. Some of Eng- 
land's greatest minds have sat in silent waiting there, 
and have raised their voices in regard to the proper 
ordering of the household of faith, and some of her low- 
liest sons and daughters have not been hindered from 
sitting in the same seat with these great lights, and their 

* It was at Balitore that Edmund Burke received his early education, 
at the Friends' school conducted by Richard Shackleton, to whom he 
often wrote and attributed much of his careful training. 
8 



114 ^LI AND SYBIL JONES. 

words have been listened to with equal deference. 
English conservatism has kept this meeting much as 
it was in earlier days, while broad ideas and liberal 
notions have been disseminated, so that no stiff cloak 
of formalism has settled over the body. The Spirit 
which giveth life is sought for, but the iron yoke of 
the letter does not rest upon them. The voices of 
"just men made perfect" have, in all the generations 
since George Fox, pleaded from full hearts that the 
Lord might have here a " peculiar people," separated 
from the world and satisfied with the one honor of 
being " fellow-citizens with the saints." 

Eli and Sybil Jones had many comforting sessions 
in this meeting, and they not only did the work which 
was in their hearts for the strengthening of those as- 
sembled, but they were themselves made more strong 
and more useful members of the Church for this work 
in the harmonious company of united English Friends. 

The effect of their utterances and the impressiveness 
of the gathering were beautifully and eloquently de- 
scribed by Elihu Burritt, who was present, and who 
was afterward associated with Eli Jenes in the Peace 
cause. This passage is from his diary, dated the 2ist 
of fifth month : 

THE QUAKER MEETING. 

" London, May 21, igsa. 
" This has been a day of deep interest. In the morn- 
ing I went to the meeting of public worship in the 
Devonshire House, which was filled to the utmost 
capacity by Friends from every part of the kingdom. 
As a spectacle no human congregation can surpass it 



WOUJC IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. II5 

in impressive physiognomy. The immaculate purity 
of the women's dresses as they sat a mountain multi- 
tude of shining ones, arising in long quiet ranks from 
the floor to the gallery on one side of the house, the 
grave mountain of sedate and thoughtful men on the 
other, presented an aspect more suggestive of the as- 
semblies of the New Jerusalem than any earthly con- 
gregation I had ever seen. In a brief time the last- 
comers had found seats or standing-places, and then a 
deep devotional silence settled down upon the great 
assembly like an overshadowing presence from heaven. 
The still, upbreathing prayer of a thousand hearts 
seemed to ascend like incense, and the communion 
of the Holy Spirit to descend like a dove, whispering 
its benediction and touching to sweeter listening seren- 
ity those faces so calm with the breath of its wing; 
and out of the deep silence of this unspoken devotion 
arose one, with trembling meekness, to unburden the 
heart of a few brief message-words to which it feared 
to withhold utterance, lest it should sin against the 
inspiration that made it burn with them. From an- 
other part of the house arose the quavering voice of 
prayer, short, but full of the earnest emotion of sup- 
plication and humble utterance of faith and thanks- 
giving. Then moments of deeper silence followed, as 
if all the faculties of the mind and all the senses of the 
physical being had descended into the soul's inner 
temple to listen to and wait for the voice of the Spirit 
of God. How impressive was the heart-worship of 
those silent moments ! There was something solemn 
beyond description in the spectacle of a thousand 
persons of all ages so immovable that they seemed 



Il6 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

scarcely to breathe. The * Ministers' Gallery ' was 
occupied by a long rank of the teachers, the fathers, 
and the mothers of the Society from different parts of 
the country, who seemed to preside over this com- 
munion like shepherds sitting down before their quiet 
flocks by the still waters of salvation. In the centre 
sat a man and a woman a little past the meridian of 
life, and apparently strangers in the great congregation. 
The former had an American look, which was per- 
ceptible even to the opposite extremity of the building, 
and when he slowly arose out of the deep silence his 
first words confirmed that impression. They were 
words fitly spoken and solemn, but uttered with such 
a nasal intonation as I never heard before, even in New 
England. At first and for a few minutes I felt it doubt- 
ful whether the unpleasant influence of this aggravated 
peculiarity would not prevent his words of exhortation 
from having salutary effect upon the minds of the lis- 
tening assembly. But as his words seemed to flow 
and warm with increasing unction, little by little they 
cleared up from that nasal cadence and rounded into 
more oral enunciation. Little by little they strength- 
ened with the power of truth, and the truth made them 
free and flowing. His whole person, so impassive and 
unsympathetic at first, entered into the enunciation of 
these truths with constantly increasing animation, and 
his address grew more and more impressive to the last. 
He spoke nearly an hour, and when he sat down and 
buried his fingers under his broad-brimmed hat, and 
the congregation settled down into the profound quiet 
of serene meditation, I doubted whether it would be 
broken again by the voice of another exhortation. But 



WORK IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. WJ 

in the course of a few minutes the form of the woman 
who sat by his side — and it was his wife — might be 
perceived in a state of half-suppressed emotion, as if 
demurring to the inward monitor of the Spirit that 
bade her arise and speak to such an assembly. It 
might well have seemed formidable to the nature of 
a meek and delicate woman. She seemed to struggle 
involuntarily with the conviction of duty, and to incline 
her person slightly toward her husband, as if the tried 
attributes of her heart leaned for strength on the sym- 
pathy of his, as well as on the wisdom she waited from 
above. Then she arose calm, meek, and graceful. Her 
first words dropped with the sweetest enunciation upon 
the still congregation, and were heard in every part of 
the house, though they were uttered in a tone seem- 
ingly but little above a whisper. Each succeeding 
sentence warbled into new beauty and fulness of silvery 
cadence. The burden of her spirit was the life of 
religion in the heart as contrasted with its mere lan- 
guage on the tongue, or what it was to be really and 
truly a disciple of Jesus Christ. Having meekly stated 
the subject which had occupied her meditations and 
which she had felt constrained to revive in the hearing 
of the congregation before her, she said : * And now, 
in my simple way and in the brief words which may 
be given me, let me enter with you into the examina- 
tion of this question.' At the first word of this sen- 
tence she loosed the fastenings of her bonnet, and at 
the last handed it down to her husband with a grace 
indescribable. There was something very impressive 
in the act as well as in the manner in which it was 
performed, as if she uncovered her head involuntarily 



Il8 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

in reverence to that vision of divine truth unsealed to 
her waiting eyes. And in her eyes it seemed to beam 
with a heavenly light serene, and in her heart to burn 
with holy inspiration and meekness, and to touch her 
lips and every gentle movement of her person with an 
expression eloquent, solemn, beautiful as her words fell 
upon the rapt assembly from the heaven of tremulous 
flute-like music with which her voice filled the build- 
ing. Like a stream welling from Mount Hermon and 
winding its way to the sea, so flowed the melodious 
current of her message, now meandering among the 
unopened flowers of rhymeless poetry, now through 
green pastures of salvation, where the Good Shepherd 
was bearing in his bosom the tender lambs of his flock ; 
next it took the force of lofty diction, and fell, as it 
were, in cascades of silvery eloquence, but solemn, 
slow, and searching, adown the rocks and ravines of 
Sinai ; then out like a sweet-rolling river of music into 
the wilderness, where the Prodigal Son, with the husks 
of his poverty clutched in his lean hands, sat in tearful 
meditation upon his father's home and his father's love. 
More than a thousand persons seemed to hold their 
breath as they listened to that meek, delicate woman, 
whose lips appeared to be touched to an utterance 
almost divine. I never saw an assembly so moved, 
but so subdued into motionless meditation. And the 
serene and solemn silence deepened to stillness more 
profound when she ceased speaking. In the midst of 
these still moments she knelt in prayer. As the first 
word of her supplication arose the men, who had worn 
their hats while she spoke to them, reverently uncovered 
their heads as she kneeled to speak to God. Long and 



WORK IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 1 1 9 

fervent was her supplication. Her clear sw6et voice 
trembled with the burden of the petition with which 
her soul seemed to ascend into the Holy of holies, 
and to plead there with Jacob's Father for a blessing 
upon all encircled within that immediate presence. 
She arose from her knees, and the great congregation 
sat down, as it were under the shadow of that prayer 
to silence more deep and devotional. This lasted a 
few minutes, when two elders of the Society, seated in 
the centre of the * Ministers' Gallery,' shook hands 
with each other, and were followed by other couples 
in each direction as a kind of mutual benediction as 
well as a signal that meeting was terminated. At this 
simple sign the whole congregation arose and quietly 
left the house. Such was the experience of a couple 
of hours in a Quaker meeting." 

The last day of the yearly meeting Sybil Jones 
spoke out her feelings in regard to total abstinence. 
She was probably the first person who publicly stated 
to an English audience the necessity of taking such 
high ground to overcome the evils of intemperance, 
and, though much sympathy was expressed, there was 
a deep feej^ing on the part of some against her ex- 
pressed views. She writes : " This day has concluded 
the yearly rneeting ; my spirit was bound down under 
a weight of exercise, but divine help came and enabled 
me to testify the gospel of the grace of God in a way 
most humiliating to the creature ; but some, it may be 
hoped, were led to examine how far their example of 
righteousness and temperance had reached to give a 
check to the crying sin of this nation, that not only 



120 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

their husbands and brothers be influenced by their 
example, but also their neighbors, and whether there 
was not something for them to do in this matter, even 
total abstinence if it may be required. When this was 
done my peace abounded, and I hope no harm was 
done. Many dear Friends seemed to feel much sym- 
pathy, and a precious solemnity came over us." 

For weeks after leaving London these " two recruit- 
ing-officers labored hard to enlist soldiers for their 
Captain" through the northern counties of Ireland. 
Not only Friends and other Protestants came to hear 
them, but often there were priests present at the meet- 
ings, and many Irish Catholics heard them preach the 
gospel. Sometimes Sybil Jones seemed to be " stand- 
ing on the verge of eternity," but as the body grew frail 
it seemed the soul waxed strong and her messages be- 
came more impressive. All she saw as they rode from 
one village to another attracted her attention, and she 
rejoiced that the Creator had made the earth so fair, 
while she was brought into great sadness at the poverty 
and oppression of the unfortunate, and the lack of vital 
religion which was often found. There was great need 
of wisdom in telling the whole truth to her mixed 
audiences, to have it come to them as the one thing 
they needed to make their unhappy lives happy, and 
her soul went out in her utterances to their souls and 
stirred them to believe. There was hardly a town 
which they visited where error had not been taught 
and superstitions ruled the hearts of the people, and 
many who had suffered deep wrongs felt that there 
was no justice in the earth. To such it was announced, 
" Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the 



WORK- IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 121 

upright in heart ;" but they felt that " nothing short of 
the omnipotent Arm could deliver these souls from 
popish thraldom and make them free through the 
power of Jesus Christ. 

Mary James Lecky continued to accompany them, 
and she was an almost indispensable companion, pro- 
viding for their comfort and safety and opening ways 
for their service which to them alone would have been 
closed ; and as Sybil Jones was under a daily weight 
of infirmity, she was a strong arm to lean upon, and 
encouraged her as a sister when her heart grew weak 
from the abundance of trial.* 

A few passages from their journal will tell much of 
their earnest efforts and ceaseless longings to help this 
people, and also the difficulties with which they were 
beset. At Galway, once a famous seaport town on the 
west coast of Ireland, they write : 

^'gth mo. i^th. Called at an early hour upon the vicar, 
an Episcopal clergyman, D'Arcy, who attended our 
meeting and kindly invited us to come to his residence 
and he would take us to the school and make way for 
any religious service to which we felt called. He re- 
ceived us heartily and entered into the plans we wished 
to execute. He accompanied us, with his amiable wife, 
to the asylum for aged females and to the school. We 
had service for Him who sent us, much to our comfort, 

* Mary James Lecky filled her carriage with loaves of bread from the 
baker's, and as they drove along roads where poverty was everywhere 
terribly present, she distributed her stores for the bodily needs of the 
poor suffering peasants, while Sybil Jones earnestly told them of the 
Bread of life. In the original meaning of the word, " lady " is the bread- 
giver. Did ever two more worthy the name go out to fulfil the duties 
belonging to that title? 



122 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and, we may trust, to their edification. The dear 
children Hstened with delight and interest to all that 
was offered, and many appeared tender. They are 
improving finely and getting a good knowledge of the 
Scriptures, which may be of lasting benefit to them ; 
but oh the hunger and rags were apparent enough to 
pain the hardest heart. Our company distributed 
some relief among them as seemed most prudent ; the 
evil might be wholly remedied by giving them work 
and a fair compensation. The Irish are not naturally 
idle; there is abundant proof to the contrary. 

''i6th. Fifth day. This morning visited the poor-house 
and school connected with it; all neat and orderly, 
good improvement; about thirteen hundred inmates. 
We had the children collected for religious service, 
and it was a good time. They were mostly Roman 
Catholics. They were serious and seemed contrited. 

" ijth. Two friends with my Eli called on the Roman 
priest and informed him of our intention to hold a 
meeting for the inhabitants ; he was civil, but said 
none of his people would attend." 

At another time, while they were in the city of Gal- 
way, Eli Jones was told that he would be stoned by 
the Catholics if he attempted to preach. He at once 
called on the priest, told him that he was an American, 
and obtained a promise from him that his people should 
be allowed to come to the meeting that evening. Be- 
fore a large audience of the most bigoted Roman 
Catholics he arose to preach the gospel of redeeming 
love. It was the part of wisdom to gain his hearers, 
for their souls could not be reached until the barrier 
of their prejudice was broken down. He began: "A 



WORK IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 1 23 

virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, and his name 
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty- 
God, The Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace ;" 
" Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee, 
blessed art thou among women ;" " They found Joseph 
and Mary and the babe." After hearing these passages 
they were all ready to listen to him, and then, as he says, 
" I soon left the mot/ier and talked to them of the cM/d." 

" The 20th, at Conamarra. People mostly in rags 
worn to strings, winter near, hunger everywhere ; but 
a better time is coming, we hope. They seem emerg- 
ing fr(5m the shades of superstition and moral darkness, 
having seen in some degree the light which enlightened 
the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. May the bright 
and morning Star shine in its resplendent beauty over 
this neglected land ! May the labors of the faithful 
ministers of Christ be more abundant and their service 
for Him be crowned with cheering success ! and may 
the seed sown, though often with weeping, trembling, 
and much fear, bring forth an hundred-fold ! 

^'2ist, We arrived at Clifden in time for a meeting 
held in a courthouse. Many sober people came who 
seemed glad to hear of the way of life, but others, 
set on by the priests, disturbed the meeting, so that it 
was not a very comfortable time; but I secretly re- 
joiced in being counted worthy to suffer for His name's 
sake who sent us forth." 

On the 28th Sybil Jones was taken very ill with in- 
fluenza. They were fortunately at Kilnock, among 
very kind friends. Here they were kept nearly a 
month. Eli Jones improved all the time, holding 
meetings almost continually, while his wife, confined 



124 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

to her room, " was in great peace " and the triumphal 
anthem was on her lips : 

"If Thou shouldst call me to resign 
What most I prize — it ne'er was mine — 
I only yield Thee what was Thine ; 
Thy will be done." 

After six weeks, nearly all of which had been weeks 
of illness and hence time taken from the work, she 
writes : " I like to note now and then the fleet foot- 
steps of Time. I perceive he will not stay his rapid 
course for me, and therefore I most earnestly pray so 
to number my days and to apply my heart with dili- 
gence unto wisdom that each golden hour may bear 
upward the incense of a grateful, devotional spirit still 
more and more dedicated to the work and service, of 
so vast and infinite importance, that my heavenly Father 
has assigned to His poor, unworthy child, and that the 
holy discipline of the cross of Christ may nurture and 
increase every grace of the eternal quickening Spirit of 
my dear Redeemer. While the truth is indelibly stamped 
upon my spirit that I can do nothing without Him, I 
believe * I can do all things through Christ that strength- 
eneth me.' May these afflictions of the shattered citadel, 
which now confine me to a lonely room and often a 
sleepless couch, be sanctified to the promotion of 
righteousness and true holiness in myself and others, 
that in every dispensation thanksgiving may arise to 
the blessed name of the Lord !" 

Near Lisburn she was again a prisoner from sickness 
for about four weeks, and earnestly she prayed for 
guidance and strength to bear whatever came for her. 



WOR£: IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 1 2$ 

" The joth of ist mo.^ 1^53- I think I have seen, by 
the light that has never yet deceived me, my path 
across the Channel to Liverpool — that if I trust in my 
Saviour alone for bodily and spiritual strength, it will 
be accomplished and marvellous deliverance wrought. 
This morning I mentioned my prospect to my dear 
husband of a speedy release from this place. He 
seemed doubtful of its practicability with safety to my 
health. I replied, ' Nothing is impossible with God. 
I believe He will bring us through this Jordan.' We 
thought of Third day, as a steamer would sail at 4 p. m., 
but it did not seem clear, and I was thrown into doubt- 
ing and fear. After seeking divine direction I felt a 
blessed trust that on Fifth day we might with safety 
leave these shores. 

" Third day. My dear Eli mentioned a prospect of 
a public meeting at Carrickfergus, and this was a 
confirmation that our plan was right." 

On Fourth day they held a farewell meeting, and 
there was much expression of mutual love, and, the 
Irish Friends gave thanks for the long service which 
had been performed in their land. For almost a year 
the gospel had been preached over the island to high 
and low, to rich and poor. Eli Jones visited, with per- 
haps one exception, every meeting in Ireland, and met 
personally some members of nearly every Friend's 
family on the island. No sujffering or other hindrance 
had kept these two servants from sowing seed in all 
kinds of soil, and they came from the field believing 
that their sowing would bring forth fruit after many 
days. Sybil Jones went to her train on a couch, and was 
obliged to make the whole journey to Liverpool in the 



126 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

same way, but she was soon at work again at Man- 
chester. Here she rested while Eli Jones visited the 
surrounding meetings, and the prospect of still more 
extended work began to appear to them. Certainly, 
few laborers have gone out in a more determined spirit 
to overcome all obstacles to carry the gladdest of all 
news to ears as yet ungladdened by it. They visited 
the quarterly meetings at York, Leeds, Lancaster, 
Darlington, and Birmingham, and Sybil Jones rested 
while Eli attended Dublin yearly meeting. She was 
visited by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and they had a time 
of prayer together. There were many interesting in- 
cidents connected with their visits at the different cities 
and the various homes. Joseph Sturge came to talk 
with them of temperance and slavery, and told them 
he intended to contribute to the support of New Gar- 
den Boarding-school, where some of the children of 
the South might have the privilege of gaining better 
knowledge. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

NORWAY, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND. 

"A voice spake in their ear, 
And lo! all other voices far and near 
Died at that whisper full of meanings clear." 

Whittier. 

Eli and Sybil Jones attended the London yearly 
meeting of 1853, and were liberated to go to the Con- 
tinent for gospel work in Norway, Germany, and 
France. Mary James Lecky was their companion, 
and was in all respects a most suitable person for this 
service. Unknown difficulties were before them ; new 
races of people were to be touched through an un- 
known language ; hard journeys were to be made by 
a feeble, almost invalid woman ; still, they turned 
toward the shores of Norway, believing that He 
whose finger pointed the way would shield them 
with His hand. Once more they unquestioningly 
gave immediate obedience to the word of their great 
Captain, and they knew His ways well enough to 
be assured that the result would be the desired 
one. 

Joseph Crosfield offered to go as a caretaker for the 
little party, and he was of great help to them. When 
they arrived at Liverpool from Ireland, an elderly 
doctor was called to see Sybil Jones. After examin- 

127 



128 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

ing her trouble carefully, he said, " You know David 
had it in his heart to build the Lord an house. In 
his case the will was taken for the work ; so it must 
be in yours. You must stop your work and go south, 
or go to your home at once." If this doctor had fol- 
lowed his patient, he would have found her in the 
northern latitude of Norway. The great Physician's 
order conflicted with that of the doctor, and there 
could be no doubt which was to be followed. 

On the nth of 6th month they embarked on the 
steamer " Courier " for Christiansand, being joined 
by James Backhouse and Lindley M. Hoag, making 
a company of six. The passage was very rough, and 
all on board were brought low with sea-sickness, but 
the German Ocean was soon crossed, and they came 
into port at Christiansand, finding it light enough at 
midnight to read and write and to see the beautiful 
Norwegian scenery around them. 

The western coast of Norway is everywhere in- 
dented by arms of the sea called fiords; the coasts 
are rough and rugged, overhung with crags of rock 
beaten and worn by the age-long dash of these north- 
ern waters. Into these fiords has rushed the ship of 
many a bold seaman, and the shores are tilled by a 
hardy race, carrying in their veins the civilized blood 
of the old Norse warrior. These descendants of 
Northern mythology rejoice when messengers come 
to tell the simple way of life and joy through the 
Saviour, and their boats are ready to bear strangers 
from one promontory across the fiord to another. 
They come in crowds to hear of the better way, and 
yet in many places they have escaped the thraldom of 



ATOJ^IVAV, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND. 1 29 

Thor and Odin only to bow their necks to the yoke 
which the priests make them bear. 

"There are many flourishing towns and villages 
pleasantly situated on the fiords, easily accessible by 
boat. The scenery is grand and picturesque — lofty 
mountains, verdant lawns, and flowery vales, with now 
and then a beautiful cascade or mountain-torrent rush- 
ing and mingling its snow-white foam with the crystal 
waters below. Formerly the Friends' meeting was held 
at Stavanger Fiord, but there were numerous Friends 
scattered along the coast. 

*^ 6th mo. 2^, 18 S3'. This day the Norway yearly meet- 
ing commenced at ten o'clock. A deep solemnity 
came over us. A few words with life and feeling from 
dear Mary J, Lecky opened the way for L. M. Hoag, 
who testified the gospel of the grace of God to a deeply 
interested assembly. In the afternoon we assembled 
for business, which was conducted under a good in- 
fluence and very orderly. The subject of addressing 
King Oscar on account of the suffering of some of the 
members by the exaction of tithes was discussed and 
referred to a committee. Two persons were received 
into membership, and two more applied. The certifi- 
cates of ministers present were read, after which several 
lively testimonies were borne and counsel offered, and 
all ended well." 

When the yearly meeting was finished the Friends 
held meetings with the prisoners and visited the dif- 
ferent schools, holding meetings also at their hotels 
and once or twice in a barn. They went as far north 
as Bergen, where they had remarkable assemblies of 
people notwithstanding the fact that the priests spread 



130 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

the report that these Quakers were dangerous people 
and did not beheve in God. They were refused per- 
mission to visit the prisoners; however, they sent 
Bibles and tracts to them, not being allowed to dis- 
tribute them in person. The inhabitants of Bergen 
were highly displeased at the conduct of the eccle- 
siastics, and it seemed that many more came to hear 
the Friends for themselves on account of the unchris- 
tian spirit which was manifested toward them, and 
numbers came to their hotel to be instructed. It was 
very touching to their tender spirits to see an eager- 
ness for better things so crushed out by so-called 
teachers. " The flock look up and are not fed." Hav- 
ing done what they could, they returned to Stavanger, 
and spent much time visiting families and holding 
public meetings. When they took the boat to leave 
this place the people wished they would send them 
more " good bodies " to teach them. 

They travelled all the way from Stavanger to Chris- 
tiansand, a distance of ninety-four miles, in an open 
boat, walking across the isthmuses from one fiord to 
another and carrying the boat over with them. From 
Christiansand they went by boat to Christiania, where 
they had a meeting with the seamen, besides other pub- 
lic meetings, all well attended. Then they prepared 
to leave Norway for Kiel, Denmark, on their way to 
Germany, having travelled twelve hundred miles in 
Norway, mostly by boat, and having held fifty meet- 
ings, besides visiting many families; in all of which 
work they were wonderfully helped with strength, 
and the Spirit of the Lord was with them. 

The 1 6th of 7th month they left Norway, bound for 



NORWAY, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND. I3I 

Denmark. They sailed down by Jutland and entered 
the Cattegat Along the shores they saw " highly- 
cultivated fields of grain, white for harvest, shepherds 
keeping their flocks beside the meandering streams, 
reposing beneath the shade, while the sheep were 
feeding in green pastures, which were interspersed 
with neat red-roofed cottages." 

They went directly to Minden, where most of the 
few German Friends live, who, unfortunately, are be- 
coming fewer and fewer. After visiting these families 
and attending their mid-week meeting, they rode to 
Oberkirchen in Hesse. " Soon after reaching our 
hotel," they write, " we were visited by the police, who 
inquired our business, telling us we could not be 
allowed to hold any public meetings in the place — 
that it would be contrary to the law to allow any dis- 
senter from the Lutheran Church to hold a meeting. 
We informed them we had no such purpose, but came 
to visit those who had left the public worship and pro- 
fessed with us. They then withdrew, appearing quite 
ashamed of their business ; but after coffee, when we 
were engaged in prayer, they again appeared, telling 
us that if we intended to have a public meeting they 
must request us to leave the place. We told them 
again our intention, and they took our names and 
withdrew. We asked our landlord why peaceable 
American citizens were molested by the police and 
their business inquired into, assuring him that it was 
the first time in all our travels in various countries 
that we had been remanded before the authorities — 
that many of their countrymen came unmolested to 
our country and were treated civilly. He replied that 



132 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

the conduct of the police had highly displeased him, 
and on inquiring into the cause of it he found that the 
priests had sent them." 

From Minden, Eli and Sybil Jones went on to 
Pyrmont, where they attended the " two-months " 
meeting. They held a public meeting in the Friends' 
house, and some people of note came to hear them. 
One, a Russian noble of high birth ; Dr. Menke, one 
of the privy council of the prince of Waldeck, who 
was said to be one of the most learned men in Prussia ; 
also Frederick Fickenscher, the son of the dean of 
Nuremberg; besides many Jews, all of whom heard 
"Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," preached. 

Eli Jones had some opportunities for conversation 
with Fickenscher, and he impressed on him the im- 
portance of our opinions in regard to war, oaths, and 
other subjects, and he was urged to accept the gospel 
in all its fulness. Dr. Menke came to express to them 
his satisfaction with the meeting, saying that he had 
thought that the views of Friends were r2\h.&x fabulous ^ 
but he was now satisfied that they were evangelical, 
and he hoped what he had heard would be useful to 
him. They revisited Minden, and had much service 
among Friends and others, both publicly and in pri- 
vate. They held a large meeting in the Minden 
theatre, of which Eli Jones writes : ^' A full attend- 
ance, several clergymen present. Some Friends seemed 
to doubt the propriety of holding a meeting in a build- 
ing usually applied to theatrical purposes ; but, to my 
mind, there was a fitness in the place, that we might 
have an opportunity to speak to a class which we could 
hardly reach anywhere else." 



NORWAY, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND. 1 33 

From Minden they journeyed by short stages south, 
stopping at Diisseldorf, where they visited the schools 
and charity institution ; at Cologne, Bonn, Strasbourg, 
Basle. In Basle they held a meeting with sixty young 
men, students at the Basle mission-house, who were 
looking forward to becoming missionaries in the differ- 
ent parts of the world. A fellow-feeling led them to 
point these young men to the words of the Lord : 
" Without me ye can do nothing." They then took a 
carriage, going as far as the Lake of Geneva. It was 
so arranged that Sybil Jones could recline, being then 
far from well. 

Sybil Jones writes : 

'*ioth mo. 8th. This morning set off for Geneva by 
steamboat from Vevay. It being near the head of the 
lake, our starting-point was delightful, and our trip on 
the fair blue water interesting amid the grand moun- 
tains which encircle the lake. They rise like vast 
battlements above the clouds in some places. Mont 
Blanc, the monarch of mountains, was pointed out. 
We arrived at the ancient, interesting city of Geneva 
about four o'clock. From our room at the Hotel du 
Rhone we have a fine view of the Rhone, which leaves 
the lake a few yards above and dashes by our windows, 
washing the basement story with its blue waters, hasten- 
ing on to mingle with the great Mediterranean. 

" gth. The work never seemed more weighty and 
watchfulness and prayer more needful. Our company 
attended a meeting held by Merle d'Aubigne,the author 
of the History of the Reformatioit. He made a report 
of the proceedings of the Evangelical Alliance held at 
Berlin, giving interesting information of the state of 



134 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

feeling existing between the different religious denom- 
inations on the Continent, who find themselves more 
in unison than formerly. 

" nth. Held a large meeting in the Casino. The 
Lord was with us. Dear Christine Alsop interprets 
well; indeed, we lack nothing. 

" 1 2th. To-day several serious persons have called, 
with whom we have had very interesting conversations 
about the things which appertain to eternal life. A 
very agreeable person came to offer his thanks for the 
privilege of the meeting, adding, * I think it will do 
good, for I have been examining the Epistle of Paul, 
and I am certain he did not mean to forbid a woman's 
preaching the glad tidings of a risen Saviour, but rather 
counselled the women not to be asking improper ques- 
tions in their church-meetings nor to exercise authority 
or teach in the matter of church discipline ; for it is 
plain that holy women of old did prophesy (that is, 
preach), and that Paul did not attempt to hinder them. 
He also informed us that a philosophical deist was 
present last evening whom he had never seen at a 
religious meeting before, and that he fully expected 
that he would turn it all into ridicule, but, to his 
astonishment, he looked serious and said, * I never 
heard anything like this; I scarcely know what to 
say. It was surely an interesting discourse.' So we 
do indeed see that God sometimes chooses * the weak 
things of this world to confound the mighty.* We 
were informed that many came who were never seen 
at meetings on ordinary occasions. Attended another 
meeting at the * Locale,' which was sweet and re- 
freshing. 



NORWAY, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND. 1 35 

" ijth. Some pious persons have called, among them 
a very devoted pasteur with his daughter, whose name 
is Lalia. They called just as we were seated for read- 
ing the Scriptures, and joined us. During the silence 
I felt the spirit of supplication, but it seemed not to 
belong to me to pray vocally, and I said that if any 
person felt it a duty to pray I hoped that he would be 
faithful. Unknown to me, the pasteur had just asked 
C. Alsop in French if there was liberty; she replied in 
my words. It was a precious season of prayer and 
praise. In the evening we attended an appointment 
for youth and children. It was large and solemn, and 
I reverently trust Christ was preached. 

" i^th. The interest of the people in our meetings 
still increases, and many inquirers come to see us, 
thanking us for the privilege and asking if there will 
be more meetings. Jane Bingham and sister, with 
Maria Ferris, arrived to-day from Montreux, not hav- 
ing heard of our meetings until we had left. They 
are Friends from England; it was pleasant to meet 
them. A female superintendent and teacher of young 
ladies called and took tea, and seemed very devoted to 
the cause of her Redeemer. She follows this business 
not for gain to herself, but for gain to others. Her 
pupils are occupying prominent places, adorned with 
wisdom and virtue. 

" 75///. Robert Fox, son, and daughter arrived to- 
day and took lodgings with us. Our party numbers 
twelve. It is pleasant to meet these dear friends while 
on a tour for their health. We took a short ride this 
morning in a carriage provided by dear M. J. L. to the 
country-seat of the Count de Selon, who was an ardent 



136 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

advocate of peace. In the grounds is an obelisk raised 
over his remains, with interesting inscriptions on the 
subject of peace. We hope his faithful labors may 
not be lost. From this beautiful place we had a fine 
view of Mont Blanc at sunset; which was magnif- 
icent. The snows of ages changed to crimson; the 
beautiful azure lake and the fine city of Geneva lay 
in loveliness before us. 

" i6th. To-day held two precious meetings at our 
hotel, to which a number of serious people came, and 
expressed themselves especially pleased with the silence, 
saying that it was needed in these times of commotion. 

" ijth. Returned by steamer to Lausanne. Took 
lodgings at a hotel which is on the spot where Gibbon 
wrote his celebrated Histoiy of the Decline and Fall of 
the Roman Empire. Had meeting of much interest ; 
msiny pas tenrs present. A pasteiir full of the spirit 
of peace informed us that many who had preached 
against war in Lausanne had suffered imprisonment. 
The pasteur wished us to go to Lyons and preach two 
such sermons there, saying that they were needed. He 
did not understand that we could not preach except 
we were sent, nor give forth anything but what we 
receive at the time. 

" Took steamer for Vevay ; dined at the hotel, and 
in the evening held a meeting in the Casino, after 
which we rode to Montreux and took lodgings at a 
pension. Next day held a large meeting at the nat- 
ional place of worship called the * Temple.' It was a 
solemn and instructive convocation. The forenoon 
was occupied in a pleasant walk by the lake at the foot 
of a mountain, on the side of which stands the village 



A'OIiWAY, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND. 1 37 

and old chapel of Montreux ; on the left and before us 
the ancient castle of Chillon, and the Dent du Midi 
Mountain covered with snow. On the right lay the 
lovely lake, on the other side of which rises a majestic 
range of mountains. I became weary of walking, and 
we called at a mansion just on the border of the lake. 
The master is a young Jew, and of a very tender 
Christian spirit. We had delightful conversation with 
him on heavenly things. He had attended one of our 
'meetings, and was much struck with our manner of 
worship. He said that when we began to speak 
(Christine and myself) he imagined we had composed 
the discourse and committed it to memory, but soon 
he perceived the interpreter made a mistake, which 
rather puzzled him, and another mistake convinced 
him that she could not have known what I was to 
say previously. Indeed, he thought it was spoken so 
rapidly it must come from the heart as it was uttered. 
He was much edified, and spoke of those solemn truths 
with great diffidence and tenderness. His name is 
Samuel Samelson. May Israel's gentle Shepherd lead 
him to the blessed knowledge of the truth as it is in 
Jesus and enable him to confess Him before men ! Our 
young friend provided me with a donkey, which con- 
veyed me to the residence of the Hustlers, who have 
resided here some time. They were formerly English 
Friends, and received us with joy. The wife is in very 
delicate health. We sat together in sweet heavenly 
silence, and the language of the Spirit through the 
poor instrument was encouraging and humbling. Re- 
turned on the donkey by a shorter route on the side 
of the mountain. My heart responded to the music of 



138 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

birds and the smile of Nature. After dining we took 
a drive to Chillon, the ancient chateau where Bonnivard 
was imprisoned on account of his political views for 
several years. The chateau stands in the lake. With- 
in it is a range of dungeons below the surface of the 
water where prisoners of state and the condemned are 
confined. Across one of the vaults is a beam black 
with age where the executions took place. It is said 
two thousand Jews perished here by the hands of 
enemies. As we viewed these walls and sombre apart- 
ments we were struck by a sense of man's inhumanity 
to man and the rapid flight of events so momentous. 
How long, O Lord, ere thou takest unto thyself the 
great power and reignest ? 

" 22d. Called on a bereaved father and mother who 
were mourning the death of an only child. We told 
them of Him who wounds that He may heal. We 
also visited a widow and her daughter who knew dear 
Stephen Grelet, and remembered his heart-searching 
ministry among them. Pasteur Godet was with us a 
short time. He is a pious, humble Christian from 
Neufchatel, who has left the honors of the world (he 
had been tutor of the king of Prussia), a man of learn- 
ing and talent ; which qualities seem sweetly sanctified. 
At two o'clock p. M. attended a youths' meeting. 

''2jd. A meeting was held at the Hustlers', which 
our party attended, but I was quite ill in bed, but re- 
posing in Him who is my only source of joy. 

" 2^th. Not able to proceed. Dined in the salle, 
and with a grateful heart was able to return thanks 
vocally, which seemed to impress the large company 
with a serious air. After dining, several spoke to us 



NORWAY, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND. 1 39 

kindly, among whom was a baroness from Sweden, 
who warmly pressed us to go thither, saying there 
were many in Sweden who would receive us warmly, 
and her own house should be at our disposal for a 
home. Invited the family and boarders to our evening 
reading. Much tenderness was shown. Many have 
called on us and expressed their gratitude for our visit 
and gospel labors among them. We are sweetly united 
to a living seed in this land. 

'*2_5th. Took our departure from this highly interest- 
ing field of labor after an affectionate parting. We 
took the omnibus to Villeneuve and found the steamer 
ready. After passing the most magnificent scenery 
we were soon again at Lausanne. Made arrangements 
for a meeting next day. 

"26ih. In the morning held a meeting with the prison- 
ers in the beautiful prison here. I think it the finest 
and most comfortable I have ever seen in any land. 
Our visit was deeply interesting, and the poor girls 
were nearly all in tears, and seemed truly grateful for 
the message of love to them. In the evening held a 
large and favored meeing at the Casino. Our boat 
was detained by the dense fog, so we were obliged to 
remain another day, which seemed providential, as a 
pasteuv called and told us of two Moravian schools 
taught by pasteurs, one of whom had expressed regret 
at not hearing of our meeting or not seeing us. He 
offered to accompany us to one of the schools. C. 
Alsop, our interpreter, had gone to visit an acquaint- 
ance, so Mary Millman, a sweet-tempered girl who 
spoke English well and who accompanied us, acted as 
interpreter. The kind pasteur received us cordially, 



140 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and offered to assemble the girls ; which was agreeable 
to us. I think we have seldom known a more heavenly- 
season. The Lord poured out a rich blessing upon us. 
We returned with songs of praise to our hotel. Have 
had many calls to-day from Christian brothers and 
sisters, expressing their interest in our labors among 
them. A very zealous person called who spoke with 
much tenderness of J. and IvI. Yardly, who were in- 
strumental in her conversion. Held a meeting in the 
evening which was much blest. 

''28th. Set off early this morning to visit the Mora- 
vian school for boys, taking the same kind interpreter 
with us. We received a hearty welcome, and were 
informed that the boys had just assembled to com- 
mence Scripture history, and that if we could feel 
something good to say to them they would be so glad. 
Dear E. replied that we came for that purpose. We 
were soon seated in a pleasant youthful congregation. 
Some counte~hances testified that they had been with 
Jesus. The pasteur read a chapter; solemn silence 
ensued, then a gentle shower of gospel love descended 
and the little plants revived. I cannot doubt but there 
are young men in this institution who will fill import- 
ant places of usefulness, perhaps ministers of the gos- 
pel who will publish the glad tidings to lands remote. 
Surely such men, fearing God, are much needed in this 
degenerate age. The pasteur offered a sweet- spirited 
prayer with tears of gratitude, and we came away. 
Reached the steamer in good time. We feel much fellow- 
ship with many dear friends in Lausanne. Arrived at 
Geneva, and, concluding to go on to Lyons at once, we 
had to sacrifice our desires to see the dear friends again." 



CHAPTER IX. 

WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 

Before going on to speak of the work of Eli and 
Sybil Jones among the Friends and other Protestants 
in the south of France, a brief sketch of the rise and 
growth of the little branch of our Society there may 
be in place. The story is full of interest and could be 
studied to greater length with profit, but only the 
briefest reference to it is admissible here. 

Louis XIV. of France decided in 1685 to revoke the 
"Edict of Nantes," passed in 1598 by Henry of Na- 
varre, granting liberty of worship and repose to all 
parties in the Church. The revocation was the most 
cruel order ever issued by any king. It commanded 
the demolition of all the Protestant chapels that re- 
mained standing, and forbade any assembly or wor- 
ship ; all opposing ministers were ordered to leave the 
kingdom within fifteen days ; the schools were closed ; 
all newborn babes were to be baptized by the parish 
priests ; evangelical religionists were forbidden to leave 
the kingdom, on pain of the galleys for men and con- 
fiscation of person and property for women. It is 
calculated that six hundred thousand Protestants left 
France during the twenty years following the revoca- 
tion, while many suffered cruel deaths and many others 
spent their lives in the galley-ships. The great struggle 

141 



142 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

made against this royal edict was along the Cevenne 
Mountains in the departments of Lozere, Drome, Ar- 
deche, Gard, and Herault. The Protestants were called 
Camisards, perhaps from the word camisarde, a night- 
attack, but its origin is unsettled. Many of the minis- 
ters in Cevenne had been executed, and enthusiasm 
was raised to the highest pitch. Deprived of their 
pastors, men, women, boys, and girls became animated 
by the spirit of prophecy. " Young girls had celestial 
visions ; the little peasant-lasses poured out their utter- 
ances in French, sometimes in the language and with 
the sublime eloquence of the Bible," They assembled 
under the name of " Children of God," and marched 
commanded by two chiefs, Roland and Cavalier. The 
insurrection was widespread, and for a long time they 
overcame or evaded the royal troops. " The Lord of 
hosts is our strength !" said one prophet. " We will 
intone the battle-psalms, and from the Lozere to the 
sea Israel shall arise." 

They are thus pictured by a contemporary sent to 
deal with them : " They are stark mad on the subject 
of religion, absolutely intractable on that point; the 
first little boy or girl that falls a-trembling and declares 
that the Holy Spirit is speaking to it, all the people 
believe it, and if God and all his angels were to come 
and speak to them they would not believe them any 
more ; they walk to execution singing the praises of 
God and exhorting those present, insomuch that it has 
been necessary to surround the criminals with drums 
to prevent the pernicious effect of their speeches." No 
men and women were ever more in earnest or filled 
with more zeal, but it was often a misguided zeal and 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 1 43 

the cause was dishonored by fearful bloodshed. Their 
camp was named the "Camp of the Eternal," and they 
marched to battle singing the grand version of the 
68th Psalm, " Que Dieu se monte seulement." Among 
them were many who were sincere, many on whom 
the Spirit rested, and there was a grand principle ani- 
mating them. Much that seems so excessive may be 
excused on the consideration that they were driven to 
fury by persecution and they bore in their veins the 
hot blood of a southern race. 

How the little company of peace-loving Friends 
came from these Camisards, these Children of God, has 
been a question. There is a manuscript still in ex- 
istence of a letter supposed to have been written by 
some pastors of Geneva which was received and cir- 
culated through the Cevenne. It was an appeal for 
these struggling brethren to throw away the sword 
and cease from bloodshed. " It must be the Lord's 
arm," it goes on to. say, " and not yours, which shall 
put an end to your captivity. Do all you can to 
obtain the desired object by a holy life, and not by 
the works of darkness." 

After receiving this letter there was some abatement 
from their accustomed acts of cruelty. Among those 
who claimed the gift of prophecy was a young woman 
named Lucretia. Her influence over the people ex- 
cited the jealousy of the leaders. When they attempted 
to silence her she called out, " Let those who love me 
follow me." Many followed her, and her house became 
a place for meetings. From this company, it has been 
said, the Friends in Congenies are descended. The 
author has seen a wine-cellar at Fontanes, in the house 



144 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

of Samuel Brun, where these Friends met for many 
years. The walls were lined on the inside with wine- 
casks to keep the sound from going out, and Samuel 
Brun has in his possession a large Bible which for a 
generation was built into the wall of the building. 
Everything which has been recorded shows the sin- 
cerity and quiet determination of these people to wor- 
ship God as the New Testament required. Year after 
year they took their flocks out on the hills or tilled 
the more gentle slopes of the mountains, and they 
never forgot to meet in their secluded vault to praise 
God together for the blessings which He gave them. 
There was a tower of Constance at Aiguesmontes of 
terrible repute, but they were undaunted and possessed 
" the brave old wisdom of sincerity." 

And this is how they became known to their brother 
Friends, as is told in a tract compiled by Friends at 
Manchester, England : " In the struggle for independ- 
ence in 1776 the American colonies received sympathy 
and aid from France. There was at that time living 
at Falmouth a surgeon named Joseph Fox, a member 
of the Society of Friends, who both by education and 
conviction regarded war in every shape as forbidden 
by the gospel. He was part owner of the * Grey- 
hound ' and the * Brilliant,' two cutters which traded 
along the Cornish coast. The other owners of the 
cutters decided to fit them out with license to waylay 
and capture merchant-vessels of the enemy. Joseph 
Fox of course protested. Being one alone, his protest 
was disregarded and the vessels were armed. The war 
broke out so unexpectedly that many French crafts fell 
an easy prey to the English cruisers, and the ' Grey- 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 1 45 

hound ' and ' Brilliant ' succeeded in capturing two 
valuable merchantmen, together with some small 
coasting-vessels. Joseph Fox believed it to be his 
Christian duty to claim his share and hold it in trust 
to be restored to the rightful owners. In 1783 peace 
was restored, and the next year Joseph Fox sent his 
son. Dr. Edward Fox, to Paris to advertise for the 
owners of the plundered property. A proceeding so 
unheard of was naturally looked upon with suspicion, 
and before the doctor could obtain leave to insert his 
advertisement in the Gazette he had to communicate 
with the Count de Vergennes, one of the French 
ministry, who required a formal declaration that his 
real object was such as it professed to be. 

Meantime, Joseph Fox died. In consequence of the 
public notice application was made by numerous par- 
ties ; all the claims were proved to be well founded, 
and a chief part of the money was proportionally dis- 
tributed amongst the owners of the two merchantmen 
and their cargoes. Those who had been sufferers by 
the capture made an acknowledgment through the 
Gazette of this rare act of restitution, stating their 
desire " to give the publicity which it merits to this 
trait of generosity and equity, which does honor to 
the Society of the Quakers and proves their attach- 
ment to the principles of- peace and unity by which 
they are distinguished." 

" Besides the applications for the restored property, 
Dr. Fox received at the same time a reply of a very 
different character. It was a letter with this address : 
* The Quakers of Congenies-Calvisson to the virtuous 
Fox.* The writers describe themselves as a little flock 
10 



146 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

of about a hundred persons, and express their joy to 
hear of the efforts used by the advertiser to fulfil the 
commands of Christ. They represent themselves as 
opposed to war on Christian principle, and as being in 
consequence an object of hatred and contempt to their 
fellow-citizens, both Catholics and Protestants. Es- 
pecially do they condemn the wars engaged in by 
the latter to keep possession of their religious liberties. 
This letter led to further correspondence and to a jour- 
ney to London by De Marsillac, one of their com- 
munity. From his accounts English Friends discov- 
ered, to their surprise, that there had existed in the 
south of France for sixty or seventy years a Christian 
Church which, besides its testimony against war, held 
spiritual views regarding worship and the ministry 
identical with their own." 

The origin and discovery of these Friends can hardly 
fail to interest those who are not already familiar with 
them. They were often visited by Stephen Grelet, 
who greatly strengthened them and increased their 
influence. One who has not been among them can 
hardly realize how this little flock, surrounded on all 
sides with perils and enemies, rejoice to welcome those 
v/ho come to bring them strength and cheer. Many 
leave the country to escape the army, some marry with 
other Protestants, and the outlook is not encouraging 
for their continuance as a distinct body ; but they have 
a good history behind them, and should receive every 
possible support to hold firm for the help of coming 
generations. 

When Eli and Sybil Jones went among them it was 
a time of discouragement, and they both felt that there 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 1 47 

was a great service for them to do. It is not easy to 
find just what they did, but we know that for three 
months they carried on almost ceaseless labor to help 
and instruct not only the Friends, but all the Protest- 
ants and Catholics where it was possible. The pastors 
with one accord opened their places of worship and 
approved and welcomed them. 

There are many now in Nismes and vicinity who 
speak with great feeling of them, and it is evident that 
all were deeply impressed by their consecration and 
earnestness. We need not seek too eagerly for the 
results of such work, for it is impossible to measure 
the good done, either in counting those converted or 
those renewed. Two earnest Christian ministers exert 
an influence and power in a community which can be 
no more easily weighed than the ripples on the sea 
can be counted. 

SOUTH OF FRANCE. 

" Set off in the diligence for Lyons, ninety miles dis- 
tant; fine roads, good accommodation. The grand 
scenery delighted us, though tinged with autumnal 
frosts. We did not make ourselves known in Lyons. 
It was First day, and it was odd and deeply affecting 
to an American guest to rise on this morning and be- 
hold it a market-day, all bustle and tumult. The state 
of morals is very low on the Continent. 

''31st. Took steamer on the Rhone for Avignon. 
Met a very interesting missionary from New York 
going to Rome. We had an interesting conversation 
on the qualifications of missionaries, their trials, pain- 
ful separations, etc. Having both known them, we 



148 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

could the more readily enter into sympathy and fellow- 
ship. Lodged in a hotel in the dull popish town of 
Avignon. 

" ist of iilh mo. Set off by rail for Nismes, where we 
were greeted by our friends. 

" 2d. Attended Friends' meeting, and received visits 
from several members. We were comfortably settled 
at a hotel near the Friends' school, which we wish to 
visit when we have leisure from other service. 

''3d. Dear Eli went to Congenies to-day to attend 
meeting. We have seen dear John Yardly on his 
return from, his Russian mission. He gave us pleasant 
accounts of the work of the Lord in that land and in 
Turkey — said he found much openness and many Chris- 
tian brethren. Some have suffered loss of nearly all 
things for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ. 

'' S^h. The two-months' meeting commenced. Great 
discouragement seems to prevail, and little contending 
for the faith once delivered to the saints. It is indeed 
to be lamented that the light burns so dimly that was 
no doubt kindled by divine love, but for want of watch- 
fulness it gleams but faintly amid surrounding dark- 
ness. If those who profess the blessed Name in this 
land were real converted characters ! But, as in ancient 
time, " All are not Israel that are of Israel." Oh may 
it please the Lord to revive His work in this day! 
Toward the close life seemed to spring up, and much 
solemnity prevailed. Meeting for business assembled 
in the afternoon, and was a refreshing season. We 
trust some were made to see where they had been stray- 
ing. The meeting concluded with more religious 
weight and signs of life, and from the hearts of some 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 1 49 

arose the song of thanksgiving. Dear John Yardly's 
company was indeed precious. I like his evangeHcal 
spirit and devotion to the gospel of Christ. 

" yth. Attended a meeting at the Methodist house, 
which was much favored. Spoke from the first of 
John. My dear husband and our kind helpers, R. and 
C. Alsop, went to St. Giles for a meeting. 

'' gth. We took a walk to an old ruin said to be 
the temple of Diana. We also went to La Fontaine, 
where a large volume of water springs from the 
earth. We also saw a beautiful Corinthian temple — 
"la Maison Carree " — said to be eighteen hundred 
years old. 

" nth. Held a meeting for some serious soldiers who 
have lately left the Roman Catholic worship. We had 
a good meeting with them ; one of their number spoke 
very well, at the close of our meeting, on the immediate 
teaching of the Holy Spirit. This evening went to 
Congenies by diligence, accompanied by R. and C. 
Alsop, leaving dear Eli to attend meeting at Nismes." 

After this Eli and Sybil Jones and their kind friends 
and helpers attended many meetings at Nismes and at 
neighboring towns, going often to Congenies and Fon- 
tanes. Meetings at the latter place seemed especially 
opened and favored. Also held meetings, much as- 
sisted and encouraged by the pasteurs, at Calvisson, 
Cordonion, Aujargues, Aubais, and Vistric, many of 
which, they had evidence, were singularly blessed by 
the Master of assemblies. They had many pleasant 
meetings with the young people, and were helped to 
utter words of cheer and encouragement to those 



ISO ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

whose life-work was just begining. Very frail in body, 
and at times almost sinking under the felt duty, yet 
they sought to improve every moment of time, not 
wishing to make any plans without a direct showing 
from their heavenly Leader. All places of Protestant 
worship were open to them, and they often used the 
large national places of worship called " temples." In 
Fontanes they held a greatly blessed meeting in the 
parlor of their friend Daniel Brun. They were always 
saddened, especially after a meeting at Saint Giles, by 
the noticeable scarcity of men in meetings. Indeed, 
they found in their meetings generally in France mostly 
women and children. 

One of the morning meetings in the Friends' house 
at Nismes was a most remarkable instance of the over- 
shadowing of the divine Spirit. The solemnity was 
most impressive, so that many wept before a word was 
uttered. Sybil Jones was favored to see the time to 
rise and testify to the people that a " pure spiritual 
worship is what is required, and is the highest joy of 
Christians." The visitors attended meeting at the 
school supported by Friends in England, and felt it 
to be a profitable occasion for all present. 

Sybil Jones's mind was often occupied with deep 
thoughtfulness of the infinite importance of their mis- 
sion to this land, and she besought the Lord earnestly 
that their dependence might be on no other, and that 
all their labors might be Heaven-directed. It was 
very cheering to these tired laborers to have persons 
come to them after meetings to acknowledge that they 
had been strengthened and to converse on those things 
which pertain to godliness. 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. I51 

They attended a meeting sustained by young men 
in Nismes for general improvement, reading useful 
books, etc. They were invited most cordially to come 
by the young men, who told them that if they wished 
to speak to them on religious subjects, they would be 
pleased to hear them. E. and S. Jones felt it a provi- 
dential opening, and S. Jones was led to speak from 
the text, " The Lord loveth an early sacrifice." 

They felt especially moved to thank the Lord for 
the " way " so wonderfully made for them. They had 
not had to ask for a place to hold a meeting, but when 
they felt the impression a place was always offered. 
This seemed most wonderful to them, as the laws of 
France forbid an assembly exceeding twenty persons at 
any place except in a "temple" or consecrated place. 
Sometimes they had but " crumbs " to hand out to 
the spiritually hungry, but at other times they had 
abundant refreshing from the Master's table. They 
prayed ever that the *' creature might be abased " and 
that whether in " heights or depths " they might wear 
the entire "armor of faith." 

On the last day of the year 1853 they were at the 
home of Lydia Majolier at Congenies. Sybil Jones 
writes : " This is the close of the second year since I 
left the land I so dearly love. The retrospect of the 
whole affords consolatory reflection. With the remem- 
brance of innumerable mercies my poor little sacrifices 
sink into insignificance. May they be accepted by 
Him who looks at the heart ! If any good has been 
done, it is the Lord's doings. — Grant, most merciful 
God, that the year 1854 may all be devoted to Thy 
service, with more faith and love!" 



152 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

The next two-months' meeting was a season of great 
encouragement. The meeting for worship was large,* 
and the Master honored it with His Hfe-giving presence. 
The meeting for business was a blessed season, and all 
felt that the power of the Lord had been abroad in the 
land ; two members were received and two young men 
requested to be admitted. At meeting of the school 
committee it was concluded "to solicit subscriptions 
from Friends here, and see what amount could be 
raised, and propose to Friends in England that the 
school be continued under the care of Justine Paradon 
as superintendent and Clarence Benoit as teacher, and 
that a school for boys be opened under the instruction 
of Jules Paradon, with an assistant. The committee 
were encouraged to persevere in the work, as the school 
had already proved a blessing to the youth, and by 
some changes for the better might be more so." 

A long rainy period hindered these dear Friends 
from holding many meetings. They occupied the 
time when they were confined to the house in writing 
to America, studying French, etc. 

At a meeting held in an outlying village at the 
house of a woman named Ann Mapit all seemed 
tendered before the Lord. Near the close a woman 
left and went to her aged father, who had not attended 
a religious meeting for fifty years, and begged him to 
go and hear these people, " for they preached as though 
they would take them all to heaven." The old man 
came and was quite moved, and spoke highly of the 
meeting, although he had said on a former occasion, 
when a meeting was proposed for a Friend, that they 
" would beat the drums." They saw plainly the won- 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 1 53 

der-working power of God. On every side they saw 
evidences of the " shaking " power. 

In Calvisson the pasteur himself, a kind Christian 
man, chose to interpret for them, which they thought 
a great condescension, as it would doubtless expose 
him to ridicule from some who did not approve of a 
woman's gift in the ministry. They held a powerful 
meeting at Congenies, and found that many were there 
who had not attended a religious meeting before for 
twenty years. They thought it prudent for a time, 
being much worn by long service, to rest and try and 
gain some strength to go on. Eli Jones's health was 
especially poor. After this short respite they were 
much refreshed for the work, and attended a meeting 
at Auvergne numbering fully eight hundred or a thou- 
sand people. They appreciated fully the support of 
the pasteurs, which was so lovingly tendered them. 

They felt everywhere the disastrous effects of the 
degraded position of women. Having so much manual 
labor to perform, they are unfitted for the proper care 
of their children ; consequently, both their minds and 
bodies are frequently uncared for, and the home, that 
great training-school, is not rendered as bright and 
attractive as it should be. This, S. Jones thought, is 
what makes the French people so volatile and often 
skeptical. The places of public amusement are often 
sought in preference to the home. 

Their work among the soldiers was a wonderful 
thing. Many came to their meetings, and, laying 
aside their swords and taking off their caps, sat meekly 
down to hear the glad tidings of " peace on earth and 
good-will toward men." A remarkable movement 



154 ELT AND SYBIL JONES. 

sprang up among them. One of their number said 
that at one time but three of them met for worship, 
but lately nine had joined their number, and they 
felt much encouraged. Many meetings were attended 
by these soldiers, who seemed to appeal directly to 
Eli and Sybil Jones's sympathies. 

They held a meeting at St. Hippolyte with the 
few Friends there, at the Moravian meeting-house, 
and were very urgently pressed to hold more meetings 
in that place. Fears were often felt by their friends 
that order could not be maintained in their meetings, 
owing to the novelty of the thing ; but they always, 
even in very large audiences, met with the utmost 
respect and attention. They went on one occasion to 
Marseilles, and took a short trip on the Mediterranean, 
and felt that they gained some strength by the change. 
Sybil Jones, accompanied by some of her friends and 
the good pasteur Abausit, who had been such a kind 
friend and interpreter, went to Montpellier to visit the 
prison. They were much pleased with the neatness 
and order of the entire establishment, and met the 
most courteous treatment from the chaplain and direc- 
tor. There was much tenderness shown by the prison- 
ers. There were in the prison eight hundred Catholic 
and fourteen Protestant prisoners. They were not 
allowed to speak to the former, but were enabled to 
pray earnestly for the other poor souls. They held 
a very large meeting in the afternoon, and it was to 
them a precious season. Sybil Jones visited two 
prisoners in their cells, and pleaded tenderly with 
them. 

They then returned to Nismes and held a large 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 1 55 

meeting. One of the pasteurs told them, in explana- 
tion of their kind reception on every hand, that the 
Society of Friends moved along so prudently, peace- 
ably, and happily that they were received by all as 
Christian brethren. At a meeting in St. Hippolyte 
great contrition was felt by a man who had not attended 
meeting for many years, and would not permit his wife 
to go, and forbade his sister to enter his house because 
she was religious. He received his sister after the 
meeting, and seemed greatly humbled. They felt that 
the Lord was speaking through his instruments, and 
were encouraged to go forward. They held many 
large and much-blessed meetings at Gallargues and 
Congenies, and visited many to whom they were 
attracted, as they showed a concern for their souls' 
welfare. Many came to inquire of them the " way," 
and they formed many acquaintances and felt a bind- 
ing interest in the people, whose souls were so pre- 
cious. 

When the two-months' meeting again assembled 
they had renewed cause for encouragement. It was 
a meeting graciously ordered by the Lord. The 
meeting for worship on First-day morning was re- 
markably covered with divine power and goodness, 
and Eli Jones seemed unusually " clothed upon with 
gospel unction." The meeting for business admitted 
into membership a man who had been a Methodist 
minister, and received requests from twelve others. 
They were once invited to the home of a good pasteur 
named Mensard, where they met five other pasteurs, 
and their conversation was most pleasant concerning 
the ministry and " things of the kingdom." 



156 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

And now they felt that the burden of souls in the 
south of France was rolled off, and they were sweetly 
released for service in other fields. They held a large 
parting meeting, and many came to take leave, among 
them a poor soldier in whom they were greatly inter- 
ested. He had been ordered to Constantinople without 
the companionship of any of his religious friends. Of 
this they were not aware, and it was remarkable that 
they felt impressed to read the ninety-first Psalm, 
which seemed so suited to his case, and Sybil Jones 
was wonderfully helped to pray for the poor soldier. 
The parting with the school- children was an affecting 
season, and they at last set off, leaving a large group 
of friends at the hotel- door for whom their hearts 
reached out in tenderness and love. 

They went to Avignon, and from there by boat on 
the Rhone to Lyons. On First day they attended 
three meetings in that city, where they found an 
earnest, seeking people. They lodged with a dear 
friend who was received into membership at the last 
meeting. He seemed to be exerting a religious influ- 
ence about him. They enjoyed their intercourse with 
his interesting family, and M. J. Lecky offered to take 
their youngest son, Benjamin, to England to obtain a 
knowledge of the English language; which pleased 
his parents and he was committed to her care. They 
spent one day in the great capital, and admired the 
magnificent and stupendous works of art with which 
Paris is adorned. Sailed from Havre for Southamp- 
ton. There they attended one meeting, and thence 
proceeded to London. They attended Suffolk quar- 
terly meeting. The power of the Lord was felt, es- 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 157 

pecially by the young. Lodged at Richard Dikes 
Alexander's. 

In London they lodged at Thomas Norton's, and at- 
tended London quarterly meeting. Attended Brighton 
select meeting, and stayed at Daniel Prior Hack's. 
They also attended meetings at Croydon and Lewes, 
and Gloucester quarterly meeting ; all of which were 
honored by the Master's presence. On the nth of 
4th mo. they set off for Plymouth, and soon after sailed 
for the dear home in America, leaving all their work 
with the Master, for it was all done in His name. 
They carried with them sweet memories of the aid and 
fellowship extended to them by the French pasteurs. 
They also carried with them numerous written testi- 
monials of the pasteurs' appreciation of their labor of 
love among them. The following is a letter from the 
pasteurs and elders of Calvisson expressive of their 
feeling toward these laborers in the Master's vineyard 
who had come from a distant land : 

" We, the pasteurs and elders of the church of Cal- 
visson (Gard), declare that we have received the visit 
of Eli and Sybil Jones, ministers of the Society of 
Friends. They have held two edifying public meet- 
ings in our temple, before a numerous and attentive 
audience, as well as a special meeting for the children 
of our schools. Moreover, they have held a pastoral 
conference at Calvisson (Gard), at which eleven pasteurs 
of our consistory and the neighboring churches were 
present. We are happy to thank these dear friends 
for the evangelical words they have brought to us. 
Their presence has been for us a means of edification 



158 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and of encouragement. Their prayers and their ex- 
hortations, impressed with great spirituality, have pro- 
duced deep convictions and been visibly blessed, and 
have penetrated into the hearts of all those who have 
had the privilege of hearing them. The interest they 
have manifested for the salvation of souls and the 
advancement of the kingdom of God has touched 
us in a lively manner, and has given us the impression 
that they do not propose any other end nor any other 
recompense for their sacrifices and their labors. They 
have spoken amongst us the words of peace and charity, 
nor has anything in their discourses wounded any 
faithful soul, either as regards his faith or his indi- 
vidual opinions. We ask that in an especial manner 
the divine blessing may attend the spiritual ministry 
of Mr. and Mrs. Jones. We desire that the dear 
brother and sister may be instrumental in shedding 
around them, wherever the Lord may call them, that 
humble confidence in the wisdom from above that 
characterizes all their discourses and their lives. May 
the Father of spirits, who holds our hearts in His hand, 
grant to their prayers and their efforts the awakening 
of souls and of consciences ! Our Church will always 
preserve a precious remembrance of these dear friends, 
and sends them, through us, the expression of its 
prayers and its gratitude. We declare that we know 
individually that Eli and Sybil Jones have also visited 
the greater part of the numerous churches which sur- 
round us, and that everywhere their preaching has 
been heard with the same interest and the same edi- 
fication. All our brethren have been, like ourselves, 
moved and charmed by the unction and the grace of 



WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 1 59 

their Christian exhortations. In the belief thereof we 
have given to them the present certificate. 

** Tempie, Pastor- President of the Consistory of Cal- 
visson. 

" Theodore Abausit, Pastor. 

" Reant, Moderator of the Consistory. 

" C. Bernary, Treasurer. 

« Calvisson (Gard), March 10, iS54." 



CHAPTER X. 

IN THE MAINE LEGISLATURE, 

** When Christ came into the world peace was sung ; and when He 
went out of the world peace was bequeathed." 

The first decided action of the Maine Legislature in 
regard to the sale of intoxicating liquors was taken in 
the autumn of 1846. Much work had been done dur- 
ing the two preceding years in the towns to arouse 
the people to the necessity of bringing about an entire 
revolution, and the temperance organizations worked 
zealously to base all the structure they built on total 
abstinence. The foundation truth was laid by Jesus 
Christ in Judea in words that meant, " If any one of 
thy passions or appetites causes thee to do wrong, cut 
it off and cast it from thee." The necessity for total 
abstinence was vigorously enforced by Eli Jones when- 
ever he spoke. Enough believers in temperance were 
sent to the Legislature in 1846 to pass a law ** to re- 
strict the sale of intoxicating drinks." This was fol- 
lowed in 185 1 by an "Act for the suppression of 
drinking-houses and tippling-shops." This was the 
well-known " Maine Law," and forbade the manufac- 
ture for sale of intoxicating liquors, except cider. 
Unadulterated cider in quantities of five gallons and 
upward might be sold. There were thirty-nine other 
sections directed against liquor-selling, drunkenness, 

160 



IN THE MAINE LEGISLATURE. l6l 

and the habit of drinking in the community. This 
law accomplished a very beneficial work. One of its 
great results was to bring the temperance question 
more emphatically before the other States and nations. 
At home it made drinking disgraceful and took away 
to a great extent the temptation from the young men. 
While in small towns it was nearly a perfect success in 
closing all shops, in the cities there was not vigilance 
enough to carry out its purpose, and many felt that 
more vigor must be used. 

Three years later, in 1854, the town of China elected 
Eli Jones by a large majority over two other candidates 
to represent it in the " House " of the Legislature. It 
was expected that he would carry to the State capital 
the views which he unceasingly expressed at home, 
and that he would agitate a still further reform, or, as 
he expressed it, " put new teeth into the old law." The 
choice was wholly unexpected to him, and he was 
working for the election of his lifelong friend, Ambrose 
Abbot. He was given a prominent place on the com- 
mittees, and especially the Committee on Temperance. 
He worked almost continuously to bring about the de- 
sired legislation, but seldom spoke, most of his work 
being in the committee. 

This was a memorable winter at Augusta, and many 
excellent men were there in the different branches of 
the State government. It was a great opportunity for 
a true Friend to show to legislators the worth of his 
principles. Eli Jones was the only man who refused 
to rise when the governor called upon the united 
House and Senate to take the oath of office, and 
he stood alone to give affirmation that he would faith- 
11 



1 62 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

fully perform his work. As was said before, Eli Jones, 
though earnestly at work for the good of the people 
of the State, did not address the House. Some mem- 
bers, who knew him intimately and wished to call him 
to his feet, arranged a plan, not as a personal jest, but 
as a scheme to gain a speech. In the course of the 
session the appointment of a major-general to the 
second division of the Maine militia came in order. 
In 1838, Maine had undertaken to assert by force 
of arms her title to a region near the northern bound- 
ary claimed both by her and by Canada. There was 
much mustering of troops at the capital, and fully ten 
thousand soldiers marched through the deep snow and 
fierce cold to drive the enemy from Aroostook county. 
Though they were brave and ready for battle, happily 
no blood was shed and peace was wisely made ; but 
the "Aroostook War" became famous as a subject 
of banter and many jokes were made at the expense 
of its officers. The old nursery rhyme was quoted: 

" The king of France, with forty thousand men, 
Marched up the hill and then — marched down again." 

Primarily for these two reasons, to urge Eli Jones to 
his feet and to joke the former officers by appointing 
a Quaker, an avowed peace-advocate, he was chosen 
unanimously to fill the vacancy in the office of major- 
general. 

The nomination was so wholly unexpected that he 
was at first perplexed at his situation. Much was at 
stake and wisdom and caution were needed. Having 
his horse at Augusta, he drove that night to his home 
at Dirigo, fifteen miles away, chiefly perhaps to discuss 



IN THE MAINE LEGISLATURE. 1 63 

his course with his family and the Friends most suit- 
able for counsel. After talking into the night with his 
brother-in-law, James van Blarcom, he walked the floor 
alone until the new day was dawning. On arriving 
again at Augusta he found the occasion far more 
important than he had anticipated. The news had 
spread that the Quaker was to speak in regard to his 
appointment; and the Representatives' Hall was crowd- 
ed, not only most of the Senate being present, but num- 
bers from the city. The subject of the business was 
introduced, and Eli Jones, rising, spoke in substance 
as follows : 

"Whatever my ambition may have been in times 
past, my aspirations have never embraced such an 
office as this as an object of desire. I can assure 
the House that my election as major-general was an 
honor wholly unexpected. It is true that when the 
governor announced to this House the existence of 
the vacancy, a member privately remarked to me, * I 
shall vote for you,' but I replied to him, declining the 
honor and proposed to return the compliment. 

" To my mind there is something ominous in this 
occurrence. I regard it as one of the wonderful de- 
velopments of the times. Who of us that assembled 
ten years ago in quiet and retired places to affix our 
signatures to pledges of abstinence from intoxicating 
drinks would have believed that in 1855 we should be 
elected to the seats we now occupy amidst the over- 
whelming rejoicing of the v people, pledged to the sup- 
port of the Maine Law ? Who that at that time had 
visited the plantations of the South, and seen the slave 
toiling under the lash of the taskmaster, would have 



164 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

believed that in 1855 the people of the larger portion 
of this great land would have roused up with a stern 
determination to subdue the encroachments of the 
slave-power, and pledge themselves never to cease 
their labors until the wrongs of slavery should be 
ameliorated — nay more, till slavery itself should be 
abolished? Still more wonderful, who would have 
believed that the State of Maine, that a few years 
since gloried in an Aroostook expedition, and was 
noisy with military training and the din of arms, 
would in 1855 exhibit the spectacle of a peaceable 
member of the Society of Friends being elected to 
the post of major-general of a division of the militia, 
and that too by the Representatives of the people in 
their legislative capacity ? 

" But I have endeavored to regulate my own con- 
duct by the principle that legislation should not go 
very far in advance of public sentiment, and it seems 
to me that this election may possibly be ahead of that 
sentiment. I submit this suggestion in all candor. It 
is generally understood that I entertain peculiar views 
in respect to the policy of war. If, however, I am an 
exponent of the views of the Legislature on this sub- 
ject, I will cheerfully undertake to serve the State in 
the capacity indicated. With much pleasure I should 
stand before the militia of the second division and 
give such orders as I think best. The first would be, 
* Ground Arms !' The second would be, * Right about 
face! beat your swords into ploughshares and your 
spears into pruning-hooks, and learn war no more !' 
And I should then dismiss every man to his farm and 
his merchandise, with an admonition to read daily at 



IN THE MAINE LEGISLATURE. 1 65 

his fireside the New Testament and ponder upon its 
tidings of * Peace on earth and good-will to men.' 

" If, on the other hand, it should be determined that 
^ay election is a little in advance of the times, I am 
willing, as a good citizen, to bow to the majesty of 
law, and, as a member of the Legislature, to consult 
its dignity and decline the exalted position tendered 
me by the House ; and I will now decline it. With 
pleasure I will surrender to the House this trust and 
the honor and retire to private life." 

This speech was delivered amid interruptions of 
loud applause, and made a great sensation throughout 
the State. And not in Maine only ; it was commented on 
in many of the newspapers and appeared in the columns 
of English journals. Pictures of the fighting Quaker 
were made, with the order to his troops printed below. 
It even came out in an African journal ; so that what 
seemed like an unimportant pleasantry on the part of 
the members of the Legislature gave Eli Jones an 
opportunity to preach peace to a very extended audi- 
ence, and his voice was heard far beyond the little 
State capital. From this time he was regarded with 
much respect by all the members, and he received 
encouragement and support in whatever he desired 
to accomplish. 

At the close of the session he called to thank the 
governor for his kindness to him and his help in differ- 
ent ways, and he remarked to the latter that he had 
been in rather a peculiar place during the winter and 
had felt somewhat like a ^* speckled bird." The gover- 
nor said, " Mr. Jones, what you call being a * speckled 
bird ' has given you more influence than anything else 



1 66 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

could possibly have done." Whatever he may have 
accomplished in other lines during his term of office, 
he gave powerful testimony in favor of peace and tem- 
perance and against the use of oaths, and he went back 
to his quiet farm in China thoroughly respected by all 
with whom he had been associated. 

OAK GROVE SEMINARY. 

It may be a fitting place to speak of his connection 
with Oak Grove Seminary, as he was at work for its 
interests not long after this time. As I have in my 
possession a letter written by him in regard to the 
beginning and early days of the school, I will insert 
it here: 

" Oak Grove Seminary was started about the year 
1850 by John D. Lang, Samuel Taylor, Ebenezer Frye, 
Alden Sampson, and Alton Pope. They had in view 
the guarded and religious education of the children 
of Friends. It was to bea*.y^/^^/' school. William 
H. Hobbie was the first principal. I visited his school 
and thought him a wonderful teacher. He stood before 
his class without a book, and seemed to be himself 
the book. Up to that time I had never seen the like. 
Franklin Paige, the present publisher of the Friends' 
Review^ followed William Hobbie in the principalship. 
Financially, the undertaking after a while proved a 
failure, and the school was closed. 

" At a meeting of the yearly meeting's committee on 
education, held in China in the autumn of 1856, I ad- 
vocated an effort being made to open Oak Grove Sem- 
inary again. It was opposed by some on the ground 
that we needed primary schools more than high 



IN THE MAINE LEGISLATURE. 1 6/ 

schools : to that idea my answer was, We must first 
have high, schools to prepare teachers for the primary- 
schools. A meeting of the original proprietors of the 
SQfninary was called, and the question put to them, 
*Are you willing to have other Friends join you in 
opening the seminary ?' Samuel Taylor replied, * We 
want to know first what you will do ; we do not want 
to depend upon a rope of sand.' — * What are the con- 
ditions on which we can join you ?' — * Do as much as 
we have; give ^2500.' To this Alden Sampson re- 
plied, ' It is useless to think of opening the school 
with ^^2500; we must have ;^t5,ooo. If you will 
raise that amount I will give ;^iooo.' Ebenezer Frye 
responded as liberally. A committee was appointed 
to raise the fifteen thousand dollars. Eli Jones, Wil- 
liam A. Sampson, Joseph Estes, and Thomas B. Nichols 
were the chief workers in raising the proposed sum. 
They were successful. It was nearly all subscribed 
by six hundred Maine Friends. They constituted an 
association for the opening and management of Oak 
Grove Seminary. 

" In the summer and autumn of 1857 the boarding- 
house was built. James van Blarcom was chosen prin- 
cipal, and Sarah B. Taber of Albion teacher. It was 
found that James van Blarcom's engagements would 
not allow of his occupying the place for one year, 
consequently Eli Jones took this position for the first 
year. The school opened in the 12th month, 1857. 
The season had been wet, and the building and prep- 
aration for the school proceeded slowly. Much hard 
work devolved upon the principal and teachers. The 
pupils were numerous, and the spring term brought 



1 68 ELT AND SYBIL JONES. 

140. A case of scarlet fever, resulting in the death 
of a lovely girl, rapidly reduced the number, which 
has not been reached since. 

" At the opening of the second year Albert Smiley 
became principal and James van Blarcom governor 
and boarding-master. 

" Albert Smiley was followed by Augustine Jones, 
and he by Richard M. Jones. 

" Oak Grove has furnished principals for Friends' 
School at Providence for nearly a quarter of a century, 
and to the Penn Charter School of Philadelphia for 
about thirteen years. Ten or twelve of its pupils have 
been or are ministers in the Society of Friends ; some 
are to-day leading business-men. 

" The writer of this notice has been connected with 
the management of the institution for the last thirty 
years, sometimes influentially, sometimes wellnigh 
powerless. As the record has been made, so it will 
stand. I have rejoiced in the times of its prosperity; 
I have wept over the ashes of its fine buildings, its 
library, its geological museum. I now see the second 
temple rising from the ashes of the first with an un- 
looked-for splendor. May it long stand for the benefit 
of our race and the glory of God !'* 



CHAPTER XI. 

IN WASHINGTON: 

" Follow with reverent steps the great example 
Of Him whose holy work was ' doing good ;' 
So shall the wide earth seem our Father's temple, 

Each loving life a psalm of gratitude. 
Then shall all shackles fall ; the stormy clangor 
Of wild war-music o'er the earth shall cease ; 
Love shall tread out the baleful fire of anger, 
And in its ashes plant the tree of peace." 

Whittier. 

Sybil Jones was at work in the Southern States 
during a part of the year i860, and returned to her 
Northern home only a few weeks before the attack on 
Fort Sumter. The sound of war carried sorrow to the 
hearts of herself and her husband. They were loyal 
to their country and the great cause of human free- 
dom, but they were loyal also to the Prince of peace. 

" They prayed for love to lose the chain ; 
'Twas shorn by battle's axe in twain !" 

For years they had longed to see the light of free- 
dom break in on the South, but they had hoped no 
less for the day " when the war-drum should throb no 
longer " and universal peace should gladden the long 
watchers for its dawn. Now they saw the oncoming 
of a most terrible civil war, threatening the life of the 
nation. They mourned for mothers and fathers who 
must see their boys go to the field ; they thought of 

169 



170 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

the homes shattered for ever; but they did not yet 
realize that their eldest son was to go forth to return 
only on his shield — that the son who had urged them 
to go forward in the work of love in Liberia, their 
noble son, was to be demanded as a sacrifice. 

The war was hardly begun when James Parnel Jones 
resolved to volunteer. President Lincoln's call seemed 
a call to him. He had been a logical reader of Sumner, 
and had closely watched the development of slavery, 
and to his mind the war to save our nationality would 
necessarily free the slaves. He wrote from the South : 
" Did I not think this war would loose the slave's 
chains I would break my sword and go home." 

That it was hard for him to go when his parents 
were praying for peace there can be no doubt, but his 
mind was filled with the thought of saving the life of 
a nation, and he certainly felt that the path of duty was 
in that direction. 

The members of the Society of Friends felt almost 
universally that they owed allegiance to two father- 
lands. "There was a patriotism of the soul whose 
claim absolved them from the other and terrene fealty," 
and there was a manifest inconsistency between being 
members of " Christ's invisible kingdom " and taking 
arms in support of a dominion measured by acres.* 

*Whittier thus gives the position which the Society of Friends held: 

" Nursed in the faith that Truth alone is strong 
In the endurance which outwearies wrong, 
With meek persistence baffling brutal force, 
And trusting God against the universe ; 
Are doomed to watch a strife we may not share 
With other weapons than a patriot's prayer ; 



IN WASHINGTON. I7I 

Some felt otherwise, and they took upon themselves 
the hard duty of turning from society and friends to 
do battle. 

James Parnel came home wounded, but returned to 
his command before his furlough had expired. He 
went back with the feeling that the days left him were 
few : he indistinctly saw what awaited him. In an en- 
gagement to carry a strong point held by the enemy 
at Crystal Springs, near Washington, he was struck by 
a ball from a sharpshooter. The ball had glanced 
from a tree and brought him a mortal wound. The 
two hearts deeply wrung to have their son go into the 
war at all were pierced at the news of his death. We 
can hardly conceive their grief for him for whom they 
had so earnestly prayed and agonized in his absence. 
Henceforth whoever wore a soldier's uniform had a 
place in Sybil Jones's heart. Her unspent love went 
out to all who were suffering on the field and in the 
hospitals, and she could not rest at home. Obtaining 
the needful credentials, she took up in a new form the 
arduous service of her active and consecrated life, 
bearing the gospel cheer to the wounded and dying 
in Philadelphia and Washington. She could tell the 
soldiers of her own son, and so touch their hearts, and 
her sympathy and love brought joy to many a poor 
sufferer. The aggregate of her visits shows that she 
preached and talked to thirty thousand soldiers. To 

*' Yet owning with full hearts and moistened eyes, 
The awful beauty of self-sacrifice, 
And wrung by keenest sympathy for all 
Who give their loved ones for the living wall 
'Twixt law and treason." 



172 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and from the field of her labor, at the depots, wherever 
she saw a uniform, she went to speak gentle words and 
to bear good news ; and only those to whom the balm 
came can tell the good accomplished. Once more she 
met a kind reception from all. Soldiers and prisoners 
welcomed her, and those high in power listened with 
respect to her messages. She comforted the widow 
of President Lincoln, and twice stood before his suc- 
cessor, President Johnson, and faithfully warned him 
to rely on the Ruler of the universe for counsel in guid- 
ing the helm of state. 

She left home in ist mo., 1865, with a certificate for 
service. On her way to the field in which she felt 
called to labor she visited her children in Philadelphia, 
and attended meeting at Germantown, where she was 
favored with a gospel message. She also attended 
Twelfth street meeting and the large quarterly meet- 
ing in Arch street, where she was constrained to speak 
for her Master. She then proceeded to Baltimore, 
accompanied by Lydia Hawkes of Manchester, Maine. 
In this city she met her dear husband, who had 
been separated from her for three months. He was 
much worn by his labors as distributing agent of 
the New England Friends. He had distributed to 
the necessities of the freedmen food, clothing, beds, 
etc., according to the quantity sent to the mission. 
He had visited them from hut to hut, administering 
as well to their spiritual as to their temporal needs. 
They together attended Baltimore quarterly meeting, 
and on the 9th of 2d mo. arrived in Washington. 

Sybil Jones rested a few days, and then commenced 
the labors for which she was liberated. Her first ser- 



IN WASHINGTON. 173 

vice was in Judiciary Square. She, with her com- 
panion, was taken there in an ambulance, and they 
were preceded and introduced by their dear friend 
Jane James, who often gave them hke aid. They 
were pleasantly received, and permission was granted 
them to perform any religious service. They visited 
nine wards and had service in the chapel, speaking 
words of comfort to those confined to their beds. 
Much seriousness and tenderness was apparent. They 
also went to the hospital at Armory Square, visited all 
the wards of the sick and wounded, and had chapel 
service. It seemed that some were turning to the 
Lord. 

Eli Jones went for a short time to Philadelphia to 
try and gain a little strength, being very weary with 
his labors among the colored people. The mud was 
very deep and the work of distributing very hard. 
Their son, Richard Mott, accompanied his father, 
having spent the vacation from his studies at Haver- 
ford College with his parents at their post of duty. 

Camp Hospital was also visited. They were taken 
out in an ambulance by Dr. Upton, who was courte- 
ous in every way. The poor wounded ones seemed 
thankful for the interest exhibited for their souls' wel- 
fare. Carm Hospital was visited, and all freedom was 
given them to point the sick and suffering to the Lamb 
of God. Many were in tears at the close of service 
in the chapel. Her own torn mother's heart gave 
Sybil Jones great earnestness in prayer for the be- 
reaved ones in the far-away homes as she was called 
upon to attend the funerals of the soldiers. Often 
more than one coffin stood on a form before them, 



174 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and the occasion was made a solemn admonition to 
the survivors to be ready when the Lord should call. 
One of the meetings was attended by a surgeon who 
had led a profane and dissolute life. He was reached 
by the Spirit of God, and in a meeting rose and said, 
" I have been living for hell ; I looked toward it as my 
home, and fully expected it ; but God has had mercy 
on my soul and pardoned my sins, and I mean to serve 
Him the rest of my days." Nearly all were in tears. 
When the service was over the soldiers rushed to his 
arms weeping with joy. He said to them : " I have 
treated you badly and sworn at you, but by the grace 
of God I will never swear again." His conversion had 
a wonderful effect and was a powerful testimony for 
the truth. 

Columbia Hospital was visited. They found a very 
conscientious, loving superintendent in one of the 
wards, a lady named O. L. Pomeroy. In this ward 
they held a most blessed meeting and made an ap- 
pointment for another. 

They were obliged to move from their lodgings on 
account of sickness in the family, and were most 
kindly received by their good friends William and 
Jane James. They found it a great privilege to be 
so cared for. 

They went to Lincoln Hospital, where were five 
thousand men. Their ministrations were much blessed : 
at a later visit they found four hundred more wounded 
soldiers from City Point. The afflicted men were all 
broken down with suffering and were ready for the 
consolation of the gospel. The field indeed seemed 
white unto the harvest. A lad told them that he had 



IN WASHINGTON. 1 75 

been in the Crimean War, and had served two years 
in this. He was an Englishman. He showed them 
a silver medal gained by valor in the former war. 
Sybil Jones said, " I hope thou art seeking a crown 
in that higher warfare ?" He quickly replied, '* I am 
pressing after it with all my might ; I am looking to 
Jesus as my Captain." 

She sighed for " universal peace to reign " as she 
witnessed the untold miseries of cruel war. It was 
wonderfully touching to hear the bright testimonies 
of those poor feeble ones who had lain for months on 
their emaciated backs. Many were passing away. No 
one could bear to tell one poor dying youth that he 
could not live, and in all tenderness Sybil Jones said 
to him, " I think thou cannot get well ; what is thy 
hope ?" He replied, " In Jesus I believe ; he has for- 
given my sins. Tell my father and mother I have 
gone to heaven." Some seemed insensible of their 
danger, but were faithfully warned to prepare to meet 
their God. As these faithful messengers of good 
tidings saw the terribly mangled brought in, and 
beheld their patience and tenderness, they were sick 
at heart and prayed for the terrible tide of war to be 
stopped. They met with much kindness from Sur- 
geon-general Barnes, who gave Sybil Jones a pass to 
all the hospitals in the United States, and a special 
one for the department of the South, with half-fare 
on Government transports. 

Sybil Jones was presented to General Auger, the 
military commander of the District of Columbia. He 
said that he was much pleased with her mission. He 
was spoken to concerning the interests of eternity. 



176 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

She was presented to Secretary Stanton and Colonel 
Harder, and was pleased with their demeanor and 
readiness to aid her work in every possible way. The 
Centre Guardhouse was visited and its four hundred 
inmates lovingly warned to be ready. 

On 4th mo. 1st, 1865, great excitement was felt in 
the capital city, as the President was personally 
directing affairs at Richmond, and the fall of the 
rebellious city was hourly anticipated. On the morn- 
ing of the 3d came the joyful intelligence that the 
Confederate capital had been evacuated, and a great 
tide of rejoicing swept over the loyal States. Sybil 
Jones describes the scene in Washington as follows : 

" I was very fearful the inhabitants would be too 
full of joy to remember their great Deliverer and give 
thanks unto His name. We went to Camp Fry, and 
had to press our way through the throng, often paus- 
ing to note the variety of emotions exhibited — all joy- 
ful, but neither ridiculous nor profane. A subdued 
awe seemed to hold in check the lawless and dissipated, 
and tears of joy suffused the eyes of passers-by. The 
whistles of the engines, the roar of cannon, the music 
of the various bands, and the shouts of the multitude, 
mingled with the prayers, praises, and hallelujahs of 
the colored people, some down on their knees in the 
dust of the street, others dancing like David before 
the ark of the covenant on its return to its place, — 
all commingled in one mighty jubilant song whiqh 
I trust was not devoid of the grateful tribute of 
praise to the great God of heaven and earth. We 
at length entered the ward of the sick and wounded 
of two regiments, about two thousand men. As we 



IN WASHINGTON. 1 7/ 

passed in I said, ' To-day is the nation's jubilee, and 
we have come to present our thank-offering with you, 
as you cannot join the street celebration.' A smile 
and * Thank you ' went round and brightened up the 
scene. We read a beautiful psalm and bore a testi- 
mony to the power and goodness of God, not only 
in hope of the full and entire emancipation of the 
slaves, but in disclosing to us to-day, behind the folds 
of the dark war-cloud, the silver lining of peace. We 
besought them to come to the Lamb of God, seeing 
his mercy and loving-kindness had been so great to 
them as to spare them amid the din of battle when 
their comrades had fallen all around them." 

Sybil Jones and her friends visited Seminary Hos- 
pital, and found among the wounded a young Friend 
from Illinois, who was much comforted by hearing the 
gospel tidings from a member of the Society he loved 
so well. A sad scene presented itself in Douglas Hos- 
pital. There had just arrived three hundred terribly 
mangled soldiers, some passing away, some in agony 
with lost limbs. It was an indescribably painful scene, 
and the one " Physician of value " was recommended 
to the poor sufferers. 

They addressed many prisoners of war, deserters 
from the South, and refugees. They were listened to 
with seriousness, and many were in tears. On a visit 
to Stanton Hospital, Sybil Jones met a young man 
from Maine named Eben Dinsmore. He told her 
that her son, James Parnel Jones, had been his captain 
when he first enlisted, and afterward his major. He 
spoke in the highest terms of his kindness to the men 
and his unspotted name, and said he heard a soldier 

12 



178 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

of the same regiment say that he was with him from 
the time he was wounded until his death, and never 
saw a person die so happy, singing as he passed 
away. 

At this time Sybil Jones and friends moved their 
lodgings, at the kind invitation of their friend Isaac 
Newton, to make their home with him for a while. 

On the 15 th of 4th mo. came the dreadful news that 
the good man who had stood so nobly at the head 
of the nation in this dreadful crisis had gone from 
works to reward, slain by the hand of the assassin. 
The great joy was turned into deepest mourning that 
he who was so endeared to all loyal hearts could not 
be with them to enjoy the restful time of peace. They 
held a meeting in the rooms of the Agricultural De- 
partment, and were comforted in their great grief by 
the presence of Him who said to the troubled waves, 
" Peace, be still." A visit was made to Stone Hos- 
pital, and it was found that the suffering ones there 
had had little religious instruction, but seemed grate- 
ful for Christian counsel. One poor fellow, who was 
dying and felt his lost condition, was entreated to look 
to the " Lamb of God." 

A young lady came one day to Isaac Newton's and 
asked if a Quaker lady who preached was there. She 
said that some one had been thinking how appropriate 
it would be to have a Friends' meeting, for the awful 
stroke inclined them to be silent. Isaac Newton offered 
his parlors, and Sybil Jones consented. She says in 
in her diary : " We met at seven o'clock, and it was 
one of the most blessed seasons I have enjoyed in 
this city. The silence seemed to have healing in its 



IN WASHINGTON. 1 79 

wings and balm to the stricken spirit." Much service 
was done in Emory Hospital ; the poor fellows on their 
beds were visited one by one, and each was lovingly 
spoken to. They held meetings at Emory Hospital 
for the convalescent soldiers^ and by all they were 
most gladly received. Harwood and Finley Hospitals 
were fields of labor, and in each the gospel message 
was thankfully received. At first the surgeon in 
charge said that he never allowed service in the wards 
where the men were badly wounded or passing away. 
Sybil Jones said to him, " Doctor, wouldst thou take 
the responsibility of keeping the gospel from dying 
men, the suffering soldiers of our country, far from 
their homes and mothers ?" — " No," said he, " but I 
do not want them disturbed." — She said, " Our ser- 
vices never disturb ; we are a quiet people." She 
then told him that she had a pass to all hospitals in 
the United States, but would not insist upon enter- 
ing without his full permission. He then gave it 
most freely. The service was gladly received, and it 
seemed like drops of rain on a dry and thirsty land. 
Sybil Jones felt that she must bear a message of her 
heavenly Father's love and sympathy to the widow of 
the lamented President. She had been ill, confined to 
her bed in the White House, since the fatal stroke. 
Sybil Jones says of the visit : " All crushed and broken 
under the heavy stroke, I spoke to her of the heavenly 
Chastener's love and care, and said that He could bind 
up the broken heart and give peace. She cordially 
invited us to come again. Her two sons, one about 
ten and the other about twenty, were at home, and 
very affectionate and attentive to their suffering mother, 



l80 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

though themselves evidently feeling very deeply the sad 
event." 

Sybil Jones felt that she was given a message for 
Secretary Stanton. She in company with others went 
to his house in the evening, and, passing a guard of 
soldiers, was most kindly received by his interesting 
wife, the Secretary being absent. They spent an hour in 
pleasant conversation, and then the Secretary came and 
greeted them kindly. Very soon silence reigned, and 
Sybil Jones, after asking permission, rose and addressed 
the Secretary, telling him that as he had been raised 
up by the Almighty for the important duties of his 
office, he must dispense justice and judgment in the 
fear of God, plead the cause of the oppressed, and 
humbly in all things do the will of the great King, 
and the eternal God should be his refuge. She told 
him that, though his life had been sought, the angel 
of the Lord had guarded him, and if his trust was in 
Him no harm should befall him. After her remarks 
the Secretary rose and thanked her most profoundly, 
and told her that her gospel message was most grate- 
ful, and said that he needed the prayers of the people 
and that his trust was in God. 

Sybil Jones went again by invitation to call on the 
President's widow. She was still in bed, much pros- 
trated. The rooms were all lighted as in the days 
when their master paced through them with the weight 
of his mission pressing upon him. One lone sentinel 
guarded the mansion — a strange contrast to the past, 
when a strong guard was deemed necessary. The 
desolate lady gave them a sweet welcome, and told 
them some cheering incidents of her husband's last 



IN WASHINGTON. l8l 

days. She said that several times during the last day 
he lived he said, " This is the happiest day of my life." 
He seemed to feel that the great work was done, and 
he rejoiced that the cloud which hung over his beloved 
America had lifted. Sybil Jones then spoke to her 
cheeringly of the sympathy of Jesus with the sorrow- 
ing sisters of Bethany — that in her boys she had a 
charge to keep for the King. After a season of feel- 
ing prayer they parted tenderly. 

Stone Hospital, a beautiful home for the weary, suf- 
fering soldiers, was visited, and a wonderfully convict- 
ing season it proved. Sybil Jones was greatly saddened 
on a visit to the jail by its filthy appearance. Old and 
young were crowded in together, and the young in 
crime were by association with the vicious and de- 
graded hastened in their downward course. 

Feeling that she was called to labor in Alexandria, 
Sybil Jones went across the river to that place, and 
found a kind welcome at the temporary home of James 
P. Barlow, he, with his family, having fled from his 
own home on account of rebel persecution and con- 
fiscation. She had a meeting with the convalescents 
in the colored hospital, and had most interesting ser- 
vices in Slough Barracks. She also had a large meet- 
ing at the Soldiers' Rest, where she addressed thou- 
sands of soldiers, all orderly and attentive, while a tear 
might often be seen tracing down the bronzed cheeks. 
Wonderful changes were apparent in this place since 
the abolition of slavery. Slave-pens were appropriated 
to useful purposes. One was used as a court of justice, 
where traitors took the oath of allegiance to their 
country and to the government. 



1 82 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

Sybil Jones then returned to Washington, and did 
what she could in the hospitals there, and then, feeling 
again the call to Alexandria, she returned to that place, 
and after more service owned and blessed by the Mas- 
ter she left this great field of labor and went once more 
to her children in Philadelphia, and thence to her own 
home. 

On the i6th of 4th mo., in 1866, she again left her 
home, accompanied as far as Providence by her son 
Grelet, and bearing a certificate from her friends grant- 
ing freedom for such service as she was called to per- 
form. She attended meetings at Salem, Lynn, and 
Burlington, visiting prisons, hospitals, and reformatory 
institutions. She went to Richmond, Va., and attended 
the small meeting of Friends there, and with them 
praised the Lord for bringing them through the bloody 
rebellion and allowing them once more to assemble 
under the banner of peace. She attended many meet- 
ings here ; had a meeting in a penitentiary, where the 
poor inmates had not heard the gospel sound for five 
years, since before the dreadful struggle. Many Bibles 
were distributed and families visited. 

In a town near Richmond it was thought very doubt- 
ful if she could obtain a meeting, as the feeling against 
the North was so strong. When the Methodist min- 
ister was applied to, a young man present exclaimed, 
" That Quaker lady must have a meeting ; she is the 
mother of my college classmate. Major Jones. She 
must have a meeting, and we will do our best to get 
the people out." The meeting was a large one and 
blessed, and the people expressed their thanks at the 
close. 



IN WASHINGTON. 1 83 

After much loving service in the prisons and else- 
where, Sybil Jones went once more to Washington, 
holding meetings and doing all she could to " lift the 
skirts of darkness." She felt that she had another 
message to bear to the White House, where now, at 
the head of affairs of state, was the late President's 
successor, Andrew Johnson. She had a most touch- 
ing interview with the President's daughter, the wife 
of Senator Patterson. They mingled their prayers 
and tears^ and then Sybil Jones was presented to 
the President. He was surrounded by supplicants, 
mothers, advocates of right, and artful politicians. 
While waiting for audience the President's little grand- 
daughter offered to her a beautiful bouquet of flowers, 
and, drawing her close, Sybil Jones spoke to her of 
the infinitely more beautiful flowers of heaven. The 
President courteously gave her permission to speak. 
She told him her message, and told him that it was in 
the name of the " King of kings." He thanked her 
seriously, and many were in tears. It was a most 
impressive scene. 

After this, Sybil Jones returned to Maine, but she 
was not permitted long to enjoy the sweet associa- 
tions in the home so dear to her. The impression 
seemed to gather force daily that she must once 
more cross the ocean. These words came to her 
often with great emphasis : " Get thee out of thy own 
country and from among thy own kindred to a land 
which I shall show thee." Once more she cast her 
burden upon the meeting, and found, as ever, the sweet 
sympathy and unity with her call to go forth that were 
ever accorded her. She was liberated for the service 



1 84 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

that she felt was hers to perform, and her "peace 
flowed Hke a river." 

Before engaging in the work in Europe, Sybil Jones 
obtained a certificate from the monthly meeting to 
visit the prisons and penitentiaries in some of the 
Southern States. She visited most institutions of 
that character in many of the large Southern cities, 
bearing the news of life and salvation to the poor 
erring ones. Many tracts and Bibles were distributed 
and much work was done in the vineyard of the Lord. 
Once more she bore a message to President Johnson. 
She went to the White House on a reception day for 
the President's daughter, and passed in with the throng. 
On every side were seen the glory and parade of this 
world that will pass away, but, obtaining audience with 
the President and his daughter, she spoke to them of 
the pleasures that are eternal. The Lord helped her 
to declare the truth, and she went away trusting that 
it would not be " in vain in the Lord." Her whole 
soul was rejoiced to see the great change that had 
swept over the South since the shackles of slavery 
had been removed. Those who had been slaves now 
stood up men. She felt that there is indeed " a God 
who judgeth in the earth, ^and He only worketh 
wonders." 



CHAPTER XII. 

MISSION- WORK. 

" 'Tis time 
New hopes should animate the world, new light 
Should dawn from new revealings to a race 
Weighed down so long." 

Browning. 

There was comparatively little known among Friends 
about the land of the Bible from personal observation 
before 1870, and some of the best works on the his- 
tory, the geography, the manners, and customs of 
Palestine have been written since that date. The 
visits of Eli and Sybil Jones to Syria, and the letters 
which they and their companions, Alfred Lloyd Fox 
and Ellen Clare Peason (born Miller), wrote from 
there have done much to bring that country to the 
careful notice of Friends ; and the interest felt in the 
missions at Brumanna and Ramallah has induced 
many to study their situations and to become better 
acquainted with that whole region, incontestably the 
most important on the globe if we associate with the 
soil what has transpired there for the benefit of the 
race. We call it the " Holy Land," and the religious 
enthusiasts of the Middle Ages felt that it was a prof- 
anation for infidels to hold the sepulchre of the Lord 
and the cities where He taught; so that thousands 
rose from all Christian lands to win back the captured 

185 



1 86 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

territory, and blindly gave their lives for what they 
thought a sacred cause. In those days the Crusades 
opened the eyes of Europe and showed to the people 
the civilization and wonders of this Eastern land, and 
they brought back accounts from the cradle of early 
civilization which changed the thoughts and ideas of 
the age, American missionaries began to work in 
Syria in 1823, not to win the soil from the hands of 
infidels, but to gain the souls of those living in blind- 
ness, ignorance, and sin ; and their endeavors have been 
greatly blessed, although these strongholds yield slow- 
ly to the most vigorous assaults. 

Until the fourth century after Christ feasts were held 
annually in Syria to commemorate the death of Adonis 
— or Tammuz, as he was called in Syria — and his 
birth was celebrated again in the spring. These rites 
came from the story of Adonis being killed at the 
sources of the river which bears his name. This 
stream, which comes down with a swollen current 
in autumn, carries away much red iron ore; this 
gives the water a reddish color, which was said to 
be caused by the blood of Adonis, while in the spring 
Adonis was supposed to rise from the dead in all his 
beauty, at which time all gave themselves up to un- 
restrained joy. It was this mourning for Adonis of 
which Ezekiel speaks : " He brought me to the door 
of the Lord's house, and, behold, there sat women 
weeping for Tammuz " (or Adonis). All the heathen 
temples were destroyed and the worship stopped by 
Constantine the Great. At present there are in Syria 
about one million Mohammedans, two hundred and 
fifty thousand Maronites, two hundred and thirty-five 



MISSION- WORK. I Z'J 

thousand members of the Greek Church, eighty thou- 
sand Roman Catholics, eighty thousand Druses, thirty 
thousand Jews, but only five thousand Protestants; 
besides many other kinds of religions. 

The Maronites are thought by some to have taken 
their name from Maroon, an abbot who lived near the 
Orontes in the sixth century. He was considered as 
a saint by these people, though by the pope he was 
deemed a heretic. In the time of the Crusades the 
Maronites joined the Christian army from the West, 
and so came in contact with the Roman Church. 
They are divided into four orders — Jesuits, Francis- 
cans, Lazarists, and Capuchins — over whom one patri- 
arch is the governor. The order of the Jesuits, with 
the influence of the patriarch, has from the first 
opposed the work of all missionaries, and a heap of 
stones near the convent of Kanobin marks the spot 
where a missionary was martyred in 1830 by the will 
of the Maronite patriarch. 

The Druses are perhaps the most remarkable people 
of Syria, and they are, top, the most mysterious. It 
was formerly thought that they were the descendants of 
a band of the crusaders who were left behind and finally 
forgot their land and religion, taking their name from 
the count of Dreux. There is a more plausible theory 
which identifies them with some of the tribes intro- 
duced into the Palestine by Esarhaddon, the great 
Assyrian, in the seventh century, b. c. Their name 
seems to have come from Ismael Darazi, and dates 
no farther back than the eleventh century a. d. 

Hakim, one of the caliphs, who reigned in 10 19, 
and who seems from his tyranny and fanaticism to 



1 88 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

have been a madman, maintained that he had direct 
intercourse with the Deity, and that he was an incar- 
nation of the divine inteUigence. The claim was made 
known in the mosque at Cairo by Ismael Darazi, whose 
testimony was hostilely received by the people and he 
himself compelled to flee ; but he at last succeeded in 
winning over the ignorant inhabitants of Mount Leb- 
anon, whence the origin of this religion. The Druses 
hold that there is only one God, indefinable, incompre- 
hensible, ineffable, and passionless — that he has made 
himself known by ten successive incarnations, lastly 
by Hakim. They believe in the transmigration of 
souls, and they say that virtuous souls pass into Chinese 
Druses, but those of the wicked into dogs or camels. 
These people have a high reputation for hospitality, 
and especially toward the English or Americans. God, 
they say, is great and liberal and all men are brothers, 
though in their bloody massacres they forget this, as 
Christians sometimes do. 

The last hundred years have witnessed fearful strug- 
gles between the Maronites and Druses, and the rivers 
have run red — not from the supposed blood of Adonis, 
but from that of human beings — and many Christians 
have fallen victims. 

Another sad fact is the low position which woman 
holds in Palestine. It is only Christianity that can 
put her in her true place as man's equal. 

Those, then, who go to Syria to herald the gospel 
and plant the seeds of progress in the hearts of these 
people have as much to contend with as those who go 
among uncivilized heathen, or perhaps more. Here 
they are opposed by uncompromising bigotry, by the 



MISSION-WORK. 189 

despotic hand of a mighty ruler, and they must find 
untold obstacles in a land where the muezzin's voice 
is heard from a thousand Moslem minarets, with the 
hate which has ever existed between the two religions, 
and has not been lessened by the contests around 
Jerusalem for the possession of the holy sepulchre. 
But missionaries are peacemakers, and it is well that 
members of the Society of Friends have been led to 
do work here — a Society which would proclaim the 
" truce of God to the whole world for ever ;" a Society 
which would give to woman the nobility for which she 
was created. We may hope that the hills which witness- 
ed the chorus of angels singing, ** Peace on earth, good- 
will to men," shall look on a community in which this 
is fulfilled, and, though Jerusalem's altar-fires have 
gone out, there may a brighter light shine into the 
hearts of a people worshipping God in spirit and in 
truth. 

We can hardly realize that this important land, " the 
cradle of revelation," is so small that it is only about 
the size of Wales. " From Dan on the north to Beer- 
sheba on the south is a distance of only one hundred 
and thirty-nine miles, and the paltry breadth of twenty 
miles from the coast to the Jordan on the north in- 
creases slowly to only forty between the shore of 
the Mediterranean at Gaza and the Dead Sea on the 
south." 

To this little country, made great and again hum- 
bled, raised up and again degraded, to this people 
divided into so many religions, Eli and Sybil Jones 
felt a call to bear the gospel first promulgated from 
its hills and in its valleys. 



190 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

They were liberated by China monthly meeting, 
Vassalboro' quarterly meeting, and New England 
yearly meeting, and embarked from Boston on the 
loth of 4th month, 1867. 

" The last meeting attended by them before leaving 
their home in Maine was thronged by their towns- 
people, many of whom had known them through life, 
and several ministers from other societies from the over- 
flowing of their hearts expressed their desire for the 
divine blessing upon their labors as ambassadors for 
Christ. Between our two friends, and upon the same 
bench, sat their two aged mothers, respectively in their 
eighty-fourth and eighty-ninth years. The latter arose 
in the presence of the large assembly, and, referring to 
the prospect that she should not meet her dear children 
again in this life, expressed her willingness to give them 
up for the sake of the Lord. They were attended on 
board their steamer by a large delegation of Friends 
from Lynn, Salem, New Bedford, and Providence. 
Here they mingled in Christian sympathy and in a 
season of religious fellowship, giving their fellow- 
passengers the opportunity of witnessing such brother- 
hood in Christ as used in the olden time to induce the 
exclamation : ' See how the Quakers love one an- 
other !' " Among those who came to bid them adieu 
and attend their religious exercises were John A. 
Andrew, governor of Massachusetts, and General 
Banks. It was especially interesting, as marking a 
striking contrast to the treatment which the mission- 
ary Quakers two hundred years before received at 
the hands of the Boston officials. 

John G. Whittier, who at one time had a desire to 



MISSION- WORK. 1 9 1 

accompany them, wrote the following beautiful verses 
for the occasion: 

"TO ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 
" As one who watches from the land 
The lifeboat go to seek and save, 
And, all too weak to lend a hand, 

Sends his faint cheer across the wave, — 

" So, powerless at my hearth to-day, 
Unmeet your holy work to share, 
I can but speed you on your way, 

Dear friends, with my unworthy prayer. 

*' Go, angel-guided, duty-sent ! 

Our thoughts go with you o'er the foam ; 
Where'er you pitch your pilgrim tent 
Our hearts shall be and make it home. 

" And we will watch (if so He wills 

Who ordereth all things well) your ways 
Where Zion lifts her olive hills 

And Jordan ripples with His praise. 

" Oh ! blest to teach where Jesus taught. 
And walk with Him Gennesaret's strand! 
But whereso'er His work is wrought, 
Dear hearts, shall be your Holy Land." 

Letters from Eli Jones and his companions will be 
given farther on to show the nature of their work, 
the places visited, and something of the good accom- 
plished. Many of these letters are exceedingly inter- 
esting, and, being written on the spots which they 
describe, they throw new light on the scenes of the 
Bible-land. For the present I wish to follow out 
briefly the part these two Friends have taken in what 
may be called distinctive mission-work. 

After being engaged for about a month attending 



192 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

meetings in and about London, mostly among the 
poor, and doing some work in Scotland, they began 
their journey, stopping with the Friends in the south 
of France, embarking from Marseilles for Greece, and 
thence going pretty directly to Beirut in Syria. They 
had as companions and helpers that earnest and sweet- 
spirited Christian, Alfred Lloyd Fox of Falmouth, 
England, and Ellen Clare Miller of Edinburgh, for 
whom, as she is still living, words of eulogy are 
happily not yet in place. They spent some months 
holding meetings, visiting schools, and doing much 
quiet work up and down nearly the whole length of 
Palestine. Sybil Jones being all the time in feeble 
health, they finally returned to England to spend the 
summer. Sybil went to Ireland, and Eli held meet- 
ings in different parts of England. Meantime, Alfred 
Fox and Ellen Clare Miller, who had become much 
interested in the work going on in Palestine, had raised 
a considerable sum of money to assist the mission- 
schools and general religious work in the Holy Land, 
and about seven hundred pounds were collected, some 
of which was sent to those needing it. As the sum- 
mer went on, Eli and Sybil Jones each separately, 
began to feel that they had still further work in the 
East to do, and the way opened for them to return to 
the work which they had left unfinished. Ellen Clare 
Miller again attended them, also Richard Allen and 
Captain Joseph Pim. What money remained was put 
into their hands to be spent as they saw fit to promote 
education and spread the gospel in Syria. 

While in the neighborhood of Jerusalem they visited 
Ramallah. There was a boys' school in this place. 



MISSION- WORK. 1 93 

and here they were met by a young woman who 
asked that she might be helped to teach a girls' 
school. Eli Jones asked her if she could teach, to 
which she answered, yes. After consideration it was 
decided to take some of the money which had been 
entrusted to them to start this young woman — Miriam 
— in the work of educating the girls of the neighbor- 
hood. On returning to England at the end of their 
visit, and reporting what they had done at Ramallah, 
it was at once accepted by the English Friends, and 
the little school thus begun was adopted and liberally 
supported. Ramallah became the seat of the mission 
and school of the London Friends, and was carefully 
watched over, built up, and maintained until 1888, 
when it was decided to be best for American Friends 
to take it in exchange for their interest in the Brum- 
mana mission on Mount Lebanon. It will be called 
the Eli and Sybil Jones Mission, and the New England 
Friends are ready zealously to take up and carry on 
the good work which for eighteen years has received 
the support of English Friends. 

During this same visit, while at Beirut in the year 
1869, they met Theophilus Waldmeier, who was en- 
gaged in the British Syrian schools. He became 
much interested in the strangers, and desired to learn 
more of their religious principles. "Their addresses 
were so powerful and edifying," he writes, " that our 
hearts were touched, and I began to think that their 
rehgious principles must be of a superior nature. I 
went to the hotel where they lodged and made their 
acquaintance, and from that time I have believed that 
the Quaker principles are the right basis for a true 

13 



194 ^Li ^^-D SYBIL JONES. 

Spiritual Church. When these dear Friends left the 
country their blessed influence remained upon my 
heart, though they had not the slightest idea of it, 
nor had I any hope of seeing them again." 

Two years later Theophilus Waldmeier met Stafford 
Allen, and accompanied him, his son, and Joseph Price 
to Baalbek, so that they became closely acquainted, 
and he was invited to come to Stafford Allen's house 
in London, which he did in 1872, and here he made 
the acquaintance of Hannah Stafford Allen, Robert 
and Christine Alsop, and others, and he became more 
and more familiar with the spiritual views of Friends, 
and later he joined himself to their Society. 

He visited the different missions around Mount 
Lebanon, and he found that there was none at Brum- 
mana. It was told him that the inhabitants of Brum- 
mana were the greatest thieves and liars in the world. 
" They are Maronites, Greeks, and Druses, and the 
evil report of them has filled the country even unto 
Egypt. Every one is afraid of them. The American 
missionaries wanted to establish a mission among them, 
but they were expelled from the place in 1831, and the 
Bibles and Testaments which they distributed among 
the people were publicly burned." This showed that 
here was indeed the spot for a mission, but it would 
take courage and manly work to establish it. But the 
order seemed to come to Theophilus Waldmeier, " Go 
forward;" and on the 9th of the 4th month, 1873, he 
gave in his resignation to the committee of British 
Syrian schools, and it was not long before he was 
settled with his family at Brummana. But, unsup- 
ported, he felt he could do little, and he wrote an 



MISSION-WORK. 



195 



earnest letter to Hannah Allen for assistance; and 
this letter was sent to Eli Jones. Hannah Allen sent 
pecuniary aid to Theophilus Waldmeier for his family. 
Eli Jones received the letter a little before New En^- 
land yearly meeting opened, and took it with him to 
that meeting, not knowing what it would be best to 
do. Charles F. Coffin attended this yearly meeting, and 
he made an earnest plea that New England Friends 
should identify themselves with some mission-work. 
The subject was taken up and a committee appointed, 
the names of Eli and Sybil Jones being among the 
number. Eli Jones at once urged that something be 
done to help Theophilus Waldmeier, and fifty dollars 
was raised to be sent to him. Eli Jones was requested 
to write and find how the religious views of Theophilus 
agreed with those of Friends, and the answer gave 
satisfaction to all. American Friends were now ready 
to take hold of the work on Mount Lebanon, and were 
anxious to join with English Friends in support of a 
mission there. Eli Jones wrote to Theophilus Wald- 
meier : " I am glad to be able to say that our Friends 
in New as well as in Old England seem much inter- 
ested in thy work on Mount Lebanon. I think that 
thyself and dear wife and your helpers may be encour- 
aged to give yourselves to the work of the Lord there, 
with full trust that your temporal wants will be sup- 
plied." Ailer much correspondence it was arranged 
for English Friends to join those of New England 
yearly meeting in furnishing funds for the support of 
the new mission; committees, secretaries, and treas- 
urers were appointed. T. Waldmeier was encouraged 
to go on with what he had begun, with the certainty 



196 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

that his wants would be supplied. He did so, and the 
work prospered. He has had much to endure, but he 
has persevered, and much of the success of Friends' 
work on Mount Lebanon is due to his faithfulness and 
courage. English Friends have from the first nobly- 
done their part to support this post of service, and they 
have shown an untiring interest in it. Eli Jones has 
felt almost a father's love for this Mount Lebanon 
mission. He has worked for it, begged for it, and 
prayed for it. His original fifty dollars, collected from 
New England Friends, was the first contribution sent 
to it, at least by Friends, and from that time on he has 
not ceased to stretch out his hands and heart to help it. 
He would be the last to claim any honor for the suc- 
cess of either of the missions in Palestine; he is among 
those who have helped to plant and water, and God 
himself has given a good increase. 

In 1876, Eli Jones, Alfred Lloyd Fox, and Henry- 
Newman again visited the Holy Land, and especially 
the slope of Mount Lebanon. A meeting was held 
there, and Eli Jones read an epistle from the foreign 
mission committee appointed by New England yearly 
meeting, expressing the belief that a meeting should 
be organized at Brummana. After deliberation a 
meeting was organized in the usual manner, consist- 
ing of six native Christians and the family of T. 
Waldmeier. 

During this same visit they started a boys' training- 
home. The winter was spent in getting the training- 
home ready to open and putting it on a proper working 
basis. A house was rented from one of the emirs of 
Mount Lebanon, in which the boys of the mountain 



MISSION- WORK. 1 97 

began to be trained. This house and the one occupied 
by T. Waldmeier were those in which lived the two 
emirs who gave the order to burn the Bibles and Tes- 
taments of the early American missionaries. The spot 
is still marked near the training-home where these 
Bibles were burnt, and some of the inhabitants still 
live there who helped execute the order ; so that the 
children of the men who put fire to the Bible are now 
being taught on this same spot from this same book. 

In the spring of 1880 an appeal was made for a girls' 
training-home at Brummana, T. Waldmeier judging 
the cost of building and current expenses would be 
about ninety-five pounds. Not long after Eli Jones 
wrote : " At our New England yearly meeting thy 
appeal for a girls' training-home was read, and elicited 
a ready and remarkable response. Soon after the 
meeting we found that the subscription had reached 
eleven hundred dollars. The women Friends of New 
York yearly meeting also raised two hundred dollars, 
thus making thirteen hundred dollars in the hands of 
our treasurer, George Rowland, for the purpose of 
erecting a home for girls on Mount Lebanon." 

So much money was collected that during the winter 
Eli Jones in the name of the committee authorized the 
work to begin, and on the 27th of loth month, 1882, 
the new building was completed. Eli Jones, then in 
his seventy-sixth year, again crossed the water to be 
present at the dedication of it. Three hundred persons, 
among them princes and princesses, were there to see 
and hear the ceremony. Eli Jones read Prov. xxxi., and 
spoke for an hour and fifteen minutes on the subject 
of female education. The fifteen girls who were to be 



198 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

educated sat in a semicircle on chairs before Eli Jones, 
and stood up and sang a hymn at the close of the 
meeting. Charles M. Jones of Winthrop, Maine, had 
attended Eli, and they worked for three months to 
accomplish the transference of the mission into the 
hands of three English and three American trustees. 
The management of the work was considerably re- 
modelled during this winter. It is a difficult matter 
to obtain a perfectly clear title to land in Palestine, 
and the Friends were obliged to go through eight 
different courts before the affair was thoroughly settled. 
The Ramallah Friends' mission was visited, and much 
was done to encourage the workers there. New Eng- 
land Friends at present are earnest to accomplish much 
good at Ramallah, and there has been a striking liber- 
ality manifested by them in this field. Eli Jones, now 
in his eighty-second year, can never again visit in the 
body these two spots which he fondly loves, but he 
rejoices in his last days that the cause so near his heart 
is receiving so warm a support, and the advance which 
has been made prophesies the day when the Syrian 
wife shall have a woman's voice and a woman's power, 
and when the marvellous blessing of Christ's immea- 
surable love shall be felt in the hearts of those who 
now sit in darkness, though in the land where " the 
great Light has shined." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

"letters from SYRIA. 

Eli and Sybil Jones were most cordially liberated 
by Friends for the work in Europe, which was shown 
them as a field white unto harvest in which they were 
called to labor. They set sail from Boston in the ship 
"China," 4th mo. lOth, 1867. They attended Dublin 
and London yearly meetings, and visited the meetings 
throughout England, and then carried their labors into 
Scotland. Of the visit in this country Eli Jones writes 
to the Friends' Review : 

London, 9th mo. 6, 1867. 
Having returned to this city again from what has 
been to us a very pleasant and satisfactory tour through- 
out parts of Scotland, and especially to those towns 
where members of our religious Society reside, I take 
my pen to give a few jottings from my note-book. On 
the 1 2th of 8th mo. we left Newcastle-upon-Tyne for 
Glasgow in Scotland, distant by rail one hundred and 
twenty-five miles. The day was delightful, and as 
we passed on at the rate of thirty or more miles per 
hour we saw much calculated to please and instruct. 
Crossed the Tweed near its mouth, where the old town 
of Berwick enjoys a fine outlook upon the German 
Ocean, and where a halt of a few minutes reminded 
us that we had really reached the land of Scott and 

199 



200 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

Burns, of Jaffrey and the Barclays, and of others whose 
names are familiar to the readers of Scottish history. 
Our course after leaving Benvick lav through exten- 
sive fields of ripening corn — or, as we Americans would 
say, of grain — interspersed with broad belts of potatoes 
and turnips, the whole indicating careful culture and 
a higher t}'pe of agriculture than I had previously 
noticed. As we approached Edinburgh there was 
less land under the plough, and instead green pastures 
cropped by numerous flocks of sheep, with an occa- 
sional sprinkling of other stock. Passing through the 
last-named csXx, we noticed the monument erected to 
the memor}' of Walter Scott. Its architectural beaut>' 
can hardly fail to catch the eye of the traveller. An- 
other hour, through a valley of great fertilit}-, brought 
us to Linlithgow, the birthplace of Mar}- queen of 
Scots. The royal castle is still standing. At the 
close of the day's travel we found ourselves at Glas- 
gow, and, taking a hurried lunch at the house of Wil- 
liam Smeal, were seated in the meeting of ministers 
and elders at the hour of seven, when visitors and 
visited were comforted together. 

13th. Were present at the two-months' meeting — a 
favored season. At a joint meeting following that for 
worship the ministr>^ of Eliza Wigham was approved. 
It was instructive to witness the freedom of expres- 
sion, not only of the aged, but of young men and 
women, who cheerfully lent their aid to help the 
Church redeem her "charge" in so important a matter. 
Attended two meetings in Edinburgh ; lodged at the 
house of William and Jane Miller. The next day, in 
company with these dear friends and others, went by 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 201 

rail to Aberdeen by way of Stirling, Perth, Dunbar, 
and Stonehaven. This ancient city of the North, of 
which Alexander Jaffrey was provost (or mayor), and 
in whose prisons many of the early Friends were in- 
carcerated for conscience' sake, is in 57° 8' $y" north 
latitude, and lies upon the river Dee. It is built of 
gray granite. The houses are from two to four stories 
high, and present a clean and substantial appearance. 
A statue of Queen Victoria standing near the centre 
of the town is much admired. It is of white marble 
upon a pedestal of red granite highly polished. In 
the chapel at King's College a structure of the four- 
teenth century is shown, a pulpit — a relic from an 
ancient cathedral of the twelfth. Great labor must 
have been performed by hands no longer active to 
produce in the solid oak the carved figures and forms 
seen in this edifice of a bygone age. The other college 
buildings are of modern date. The general meeting 
of ministers and elders was held on the 17th. God- 
frey Woodhard, William Ball, Thomas Wells, and 
Sarah Tatham in the ministry were present from Eng- 
land. The latter has been for some weeks our kind 
companion and caretaker. 

loth, First day. Two meetings for worship were held, 
both well attended, the latter more numerously than 
could be accommodated in the house, several remain- 
ing near the door; all quiet and attentive. Most 
Friends present in the ministry took part in the vocal 
exercises, in which Christ was exalted as the rightful 
Head of His Church and as the world's only Saviour. 
The business of the general meeting is the same in 
character as that of a quarterly meeting. It was held 



202 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

on the 19th of the month, preceded by a meeting for 
worship. We may trust both were seasons of en- 
couragement to Friends in this land, so remotely situ- 
ated one from the other and accustomed to meet for 
worship in comparatively small numbers. While in 
Aberdeen we visited Barbara Wigham, now nearly 
ninety-three years of age, a valued minister who 
seems quietly waiting the pleasure of her Lord to 
leave her post of watching for a seat among the 
blessed. How delightful to look upon the ripe corn 
in the ear ready to be garnered ! She is the daughter- 
in-law of John Wigham, who some years since trav- 
elled extensively in America, going as far east as 
Nova Scotia. 

•Left Aberdeen the morning of the 21st for Stone- 
haven, sixteen miles distant, where we had arranged 
for a meeting in the morning. This is a neat little 
town, nearly two miles from Ury, the ancient home 
of the Barclays, including the noted Apologist. The 
present " laird of Ury," John Baird, and his wife, Mar- 
garet Baird, kindly showed us about their palace- home 
and its extensive gardens redolent with fruit and 
flower, and in other ways continued to make our 
call a very pleasant one. Among things of special 
interest was shown a stool of rather clumsy make 
labelled " Library Stool of Robert Barclay the Apolo- 
gist." Tradition and facts point to this as the verita- 
ble seat of that eminent Christian scholar while writ- 
ing his unrefuted and as yet unanswered book. The 
Apology. A lengthened walk through field and pas- 
ture brought us to the " Sarcophagus " of the Barclay 
family, located upon an eminence overlooking the 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. gOJ 

estate and its surrounding country, including Stone- 
haven and parts of the German Ocean. Tlie building 
.s of stone, with recesses in the interior walls contain- 
ing tablets descriptive of members of the family, from 
Colonel David Barclay to Robert the Younger, who 
died m 1854, there being five in a direct line of the 
name of Robert. A larger tablet contains a synopsis 
of he history and genealogy of the family, running 
back many years prior to the time in which the name 
of Barclay finds a place in the histoo' of Friends. 
The estate is large. One of its owners during his 
hfe cultivated two thousand acres and planted out one 
thousand five hundred other acres. At the time of 
our visit its pastures were enlivened by the presence 
of large herds of horned cattle and a flock of eight 
hundred ewe sheep, four hundred lambs, a portion of 
this year's increase having been disposed of previous- 
y. Numerous beeches of startling dimensions grace 
the lawn, and near where stood the old homestead an 
old y^j tree, now in the strength of its power, reminds 
one that it might have enjoyed, and probably did enjoy 
youth contemporaneously with the ancient "laird of 
Ury -and with his son the Apologist. The present 
dwelling IS one of modern date; its predecessor and 
the old Ury meeting-house" were removed to give 
It place. ° 

Our meeting at Stonehaven was a relieving one 
The family from Ury attended, and we were glad of 
their company. Thence we went forward to Glasgow 
by way of Dundee, accompanied by our kind friend 
Robert Smeal, the gifted editor of the British Friend 
Held large meetings at each of the above-named cities' 



204 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

On the 24th, after a meeting at Kilmarnock, went 
that night to Edinburgh. Next day and first of the 
week met Friends and others at their place of wor- 
ship. Here closed our religious labors in that inter- 
esting country, and we came pretty directly to this 
place, taking in meetings at Carlisle, Manchester, and 
Birmingham. Affectionately thy friend, 

Eli Jones. 

Eli Jones, in a letter dated 9th mo. 26th, thus alludes 
to service ahead : " We intend to leave London this 
evening for Paris, and after a few days there and 
among Friends in the south of France, embark at 
Marseilles for Greece; call at a few places in that 
classic land ; thence pretty directly to Beirut in Syria, 
where, if the Lord shall make a way for us to labor in 
His service, we may spend some weeks in visiting 
school-missionaries and such others as may be dis- 
posed to hear the good news in the land of the Cruci- 
fied One, and return by way of Jaffa, Alexandria, Cairo, 
and the island of Malta. We have as companions and 
helpers in the work our young friends Alfred Lloyd 
Fox of Falmouth, England, and Ellen Clare Miller of 
Edinburgh. Much kind interest has been manifested 
by Friends here in relation to this new field of labor." 

One of the companions of E. and S. Jones wrote the 
following account of their labors in the south of France 
to the Friends' Review : 

" Eli and Sybil Jones and party left London on the 
1 6th for Paris, via Folkestone and Boulogne, having 
letters of introduction from the secretaries of the Turk- 
ish Mission, Church Missionary, and Jewish Church 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 20$ 

Mission societies, and to various persons in the East. 
We had a smooth, pleasant passage of about two hours, 
S. J. redining most of the time, and E. J. and compan- 
ions remaining pn deck watching the disappearing 
lights on the English coast and then those on the 
French shore coming into view. We spent the night 
in Boulogne, going on the next afternoon to Paris. 
The three following days we spent in Paris. We 
visited the Exhibition and went to the stand of the 
Bible Society, where we were greatly interested in 
the account of the work done during the time of the 
Exhibition. They have distributed, thus far, l,8oo,000 
copies of the Scriptures or portions of the Scriptures. 
Among others, eight hundred priests have received 
these, so that we cannot but hope that a large amount 
of good has been effected. While Eli and Sybil Jones 
were at the stand numbers of people came for the little 
gratuitous French, German, and Italian Gospels, and 
seemed much pleased to receive them. Our friends 
had the pleasure themselves of giving some copies to 
soldiers and others. The gentlemen at the stand were 
much interested in E. and S. J.'s mission to the East, 
and supplied us with Arabic and Turkish portions for 
distribution there. On First day we attended the 
Friends' meeting at the Congregational chapel, 23 
Rue Royale, at 9 A. m. About forty persons were 
present, among others L. Mellor and her husband 
from Philadelphia, whom it was pleasant for E. and S. 
Jones to meet. The meeting was a memorable and 
impressive one, ministry and supplication flowing freely. 
Soon after the Friends' meeting the usual Congrega- 
tional meeting was held, at which we remained, the 



206 ELI AXD SYBIL JOXES. 

pasteur inviting E. and S. Jones to come to his after- 
noon meeting in the Avenue des Ternes, where they 
might have an opportunity of addressing those present. 
We accordingly went, and found a small but serious 
gathering of English and Americans ; the song of the 
angels on the night of our Saviour's birth was dwelt 
upon. Next day E. and S. J., having been invited by 
the secretary of the Evangelical Alliance to be present 
at the usual service in the Salle Evangelique, we went 
thither at the appointed time, but were sorry to find 
on arriving that, though free opportunity'' was offered 
for Eli Jones to speak, the committee could not allow 
Sybil Jones to do so. Under these circumstances Eli 
Jones declined to take any part in a service which 
would so distinctly have compromised one of our 
Society's leading views. On Third day we left Paris 
for Lyons. E. and S. J. much enjoyed the country 
with its long lines of poplar trees edging the streams 
and canals, and vineyards terracing the slopes of Cote 
d'Or. We slept at Lyons, setting out the following 
morning for another day's journey to Nismes. Nismes 
was reached between nine and ten p. m., our Friends 
less tired than after the journey of the day before, 
having much enjoyed the scenery. Jules Paradon, 
who for so many years had been an interpreter for 
Friends and their kind helper in the south of France, 
came early to the hotel on the following morning to 
welcome the Friends back to Nismes. Lydia ^lajo- 
lier and other Friends also called, and an arrangement 
was made for a meeting to be held at the Free Church 
the same evening, the pasteur kindly giving up his 
usual service to E. and S. Jones. A good meeting 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 20/ 

was held, about one hundred being present. Jules 
Paradon interpreted the free gospel message and the 
prayer for France, her rulers, her pasteurs, and her 
people. Much joy was expressed at seeing E. and 
S. J. again. Much fruit of their labor here four- 
teen years ago is evident. There seems much good 
stirring among the young people who are connected 
with Friends. Some of those who were at school 
when E. and S. J. were last here bear marks of their 
influence. On the 3d we drove to Congenies, about 
twelve miles from Nismes, through the rich vineyards 
and oliveyards of the South. There are not many 
Friends at Nismes, but the little meeting-house was 
well filled. In the evening a meeting was held, and 
about ninety present, half of them men. It was an 
interesting sight to see the men in their working dress 
and the women — many of whom had been working 
hard all day — listening so attentively and seriously to 
the loving and encouraging words spoken to them. 
Much feeling was shown as they spoke to the Friends 
after hieeting. E. and S. Jones and their party were 
kindly lodged at the house of George and Lydia Ma- 
jolier, and the following day were driven to Fontanes 
to see Friends in that neighborhood. We were hos- 
pitably entertained at the house of Daniel Brun, a 
minister of our Society. A meeting was held in the 
afternoon, about forty present ; L. Majolier interpreted. 
E. and S. J. addressed words of warning and encour- 
agement to all. Daniel Brun prayed for a blessing 
upon the seed sown. On First day the meeting con- 
vened at 10.30 A. M. at Congenies, many Friends com- 
ing from other places, so that the little meeting-house 



208 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

was again filled, J. Paradon having come over to in- 
terpret. Sybil Jones dwelt upon the nature of true 
worship. Eli Jones dwelt earnestly upon woman's 
part in regenerating and elevating the world, remind- 
ing us of what a prominent part she played in the fall, 
and, on the other hand, both in the Old Testament 
history, and still more in the New, how many noble 
women are written about. These were held up as not 
unattainable examples, A large and very interesting 
meeting was held at 4 p. M. at Nismes in one of the 
Protestant places of worship. On Second day E. and 
S. J. visited two girls' schools for the poorer classes, 
at both of which they spoke to the children, encour- 
aging them to pray morning and evening for help for 
the day and forgiveness for what they had done amiss. 
" On Third day we were at St. Gilles, where we were 
very kindly entertained at Anna Vally's, where a meet- 
ing was held in the afternoon for the few Friends in 
the place, and in the evening a good meeting was held 
in the temple. The following day a large meeting was 
held at Calvisson, six hundred being there, and Pasteur 
Abausit himself interpreting. On Fifth day a farewell 
meeting was held with the Friends, thirty or forty in 
number, at which much tenderness of feeling was 
shown while S. J. urged and encouraged them to fight 
for the faith once delivered to the saints. She dwelt 
earnestly on the need of their forgiving those who had 
injured them, as they hoped to be forgiven. Many 
tearful farewells were said and earnest desires ex- 
pressed for E. and S. J.'s welfare, and for a blessing 
on the labors of their hands. On Sixth day we left 
Nismes at noon, reaching Marseilles about 5 p. m., 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 20g 

whence we hope to sail this afternoon for Athens, 
thence to Beirut, where we look to be about the end 
of the month." 

We give below a letter from Ellen Clare Miller, 
written on board the steamer " Godavery " to the 
Friends' Review : 

Smyrna, loth mo. 25, 1867. 

It falls to my lot to give some account of the very 
interesting visit to Athens of our dear friends Eli and 
Sybil Jones. ... It was a time never to be forgotten. 
Our account was written from Marseilles, from which 
port we embarked on Seventh day, lOth mo. 12th, 
reaching the Piraeus on Fifth day morning. We had 
a safe and pleasant voyage, receiving much kindness 
from the captain, who seemed a superior man. There 
was not opportunity for much outward service on 
board, but earnest desires were felt and loving prayers 
raised that our tarriance there might be for good to 
those who sailed with us. . . . 

On the 1 6th the fine ramparts of the rocky, sterile 
hills of Southern Greece came into view, and all that 
day we coasted along that most interesting country, 
with its mountains rising up from the very edge of 
the sea, here and there a poor little village with its 
scanty olive trees set in the hollows of the hills, or a 
solitary house for the shepherd or goatherd. It was 
past midnight when we sailed into the Piraeus, very 
calm, with beautiful starlight and a very soft air ; and 
so we landed in Greece. 

We did not know quite what we should do, landing 
at midnight in a strange country and hearing only a 

14 



2IO ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

strange tongue, but we were wonderfully provided for 
in this respect. A Greek gentleman, who was our 
fellow-passenger returning to Athens, very kindly did 
for us all that could be done, getting our baggage 
through the custom-house without detention — which 
at that late hour was a great relief — and taking us to 
a comfortable hotel. It is difficult to convey the great 
interest of our visit to Athens, which should, I think, 
be confirming to all who go in simple faith where they 
feel themselves required to go, believing that the way 
and the work will be opened up before them. Such has 
been everywhere the openness to receive our dear 
friends that surely He who put it into their hearts to 
visit this place, and who when " He putteth forth His 
own sheep goeth before them," prepared the hearts of 
the people in a wonderful manner to receive them, and 
opened the way for their mission among all. It was 
very interesting next morning to find ourselves op- 
posite the Acropolis with its ancient ruined temples 
and fortifications, and the less conspicuous but still 
more interesting little eminence beside it, Mars Hill, 
from whose rocks, where the council of the Areopagus 
sat, Paul spoke. ' 

On Fifth day, the 17th, Eli Jones and Alfred Lloyd 
Fox delivered letters of introduction to J. H. Hill, 
chaplain of the English embassy, who for more than 
thirty years, with his wife, has been teaching the Greek 
children. There is a great work going on in Athens 
in reference to the poor Cretans who have fled from 
their own islands and taken refuge in Greece, Thou- 
sands have come to Athens, where they have been 
provided with food and clothing, and schools have 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 211 

been opened for the education of their children. We 
visited five of these — some more than once — where E. 
and S. Jones had an opportunity of speaking to the 
children, and often to the poor Cretan women. Some 
were widows; others had lost their children, others 
whose husbands and children are still engaged in the 
war. All had lost their homes and their whole pos- 
sessions. It was a very affecting sight to see these 
poor sorrowing creatures thronging to speak to the 
friends, thanking them for their words of loving sym- 
pathy and comfort, and for the help and sympathy 
sent them from America. At all the schools the 
message of our dear friends was to point both chil- 
dren and parents to Jesus as the one who is able 
under all circumstances to give peace and happiness 
to the soul. The message, which to many was a 
new one, seemed to go home to their hearts, and seed 
was sown with fervent prayer which we must believe 
will be blessed to these poor creatures and to Greece 
by Him who giveth the increase. Demetrius Z. Sack- 
ellarios, editor of The Star in the East and treasurer of 
the American and Greek fund for the support of the 
Cretan schools, very kindly and efficiently interpreted 
on several occasions. He is a Greek by birth, but 
spent several years in America, and his wife, A. Jose- 
phine Sackellarios, is an American lady. There are 
indeed several Americans in Athens, with whom we 
had some very delightful intercourse. 

We spent First day evening with Dr. Hill and his 
family, and (through the medium of Edward Masson, 
a Scotchman, and farmerly one of the judges of the 
supreme court of Areopagus) E. and S. Jones had an 



212 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

opportunity of addressing a school at Dr. Hill's house 
for between twenty and thirty Greek girls of the upper 
classes. Several were introduced to them from Mace- 
donia, Asia Minor, and many parts of Greece and the 
islands, besides Athens. An impression seemed to be 
made that evening which we trust will not soon be 
forgotten. After visiting another of the schools on 
First day, where we saw five hundred children taught 
on the national-school system, and some Cretan women 
spinning and weaving their native silk, we went to the 
prison, where Sybil Jones had obtained permission to 
speak to the prisoners. Leave was granted for all the 
prisoners, about one hundred and fifty in number, to 
come into the courtyard, in the centre of which was a 
large plane tree, under the shadow of which all stood, 
the poor men forming a large semicircle around S. 
Jones and D. Sackellarios, her interpreter, and the 
others. It was a striking scene and a time of great 
interest. The men were exceedingly attentive, and 
many were moved while S. J. spoke to them for nearly 
an hour. She sympathized with them in their present 
condition. She related some narratives of prisoners 
who, having found their Saviour in prison, had been 
filled with joy, and she prayed for them that they too 
might be brought to Him. The governor of the 
prison seemed very grateful — said he hoped the words 
spoken would be blest to the souls of the poor pris- 
oners ; and many said it was a day never to be for- 
gotten. It was found that the prisoners had no Bibles, 
but an arrangement was made that each should be 
supplied with at least a Gospel. We spent the even- 
ing very pleasantly at the house of Dr. Kalopothakes, 



LETT^HS FROM SYRIA. 213 

where we met most of the missionaries, to whom, after 
the First of Romans had been read, E. and S. J. ad- 
dressed many words of encouragement, as they did 
on a similar occasion on Third day morning, when 
many came to the hotel to take leave, alluding to the 
refreshment it had been in coming to a strange land 
to meet with those to whom, as servants of the same 
blessed Master, they could feel united in one common 
love and faith, partaking together of the one true com- 
munion and speaking together the language of Canaan. 
All present were deeply affected, and a strong impres- 
sion was made there as on all other occasions. Some 
said that the visit of these dear Friends to Athens was 
just what they had long desired and prayed for — that 
what they had brought was as a message from the 
Saviour to encourage them in their work; and D. 
Sackellarios said that the day of his interpreting for 
them was the happiest of his life. The same morning 
E. and S. Jones visited the theological college for the 
education of young Greek priests. It is under the 
superintendence of a young Greek, who seems a seri- 
ous man. He has one or two Friends' books, and is 
desirous to know something of our Society. S. J. 
addressed a few words both to him and to the students, 
encouraging them to give their hearts to the Saviour 
and to attend t6 the teaching of the Holy Spirit in 
their hearts. 

E. and S. J. also received a visit from the Cretan 
bishop of Kissaruss to thank them for their visits to 
the schools and their interest in the Cretan children, 
and through them to express gratitude to tte Amer- 
ican people for their help and sympathy. He also 



214 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

asked for the prayers of Americans that Crete might 
be made free. 

We sailed from the Piraeus loth mo. 22d, landing at 
Syra the following morning, where E. and S. J. visited 
the school for Greek children under the care of F. A. 
Hildner, a Basle missionary, who has been for thirty- 
seven years engaged in work on this island. Here, as 
before, the gospel message was spoken to the children 
and a cheering visit paid to the missionary. We re- 
embarked on Fifth day, and after running for some 
time pretty near the coast we sailed into the beautiful 
bay on which Smyrna stands. The city looks bright 
and Eastern with its light-painted, square, flat-roofed 
houses, among which towers and minarets rise. Be- 
hind the city rises a steep bare hill crowned with a 
mosque and the ruins of an old castle. The moun- 
tains rise all round the bay, greener than any we had 
seen since leaving the south of France, and with olive 
trees and vineyards round their base. 

To-day, the 25 th, we went on shore, and were driven 
up and down the narrow, roughly-paved streets of 
Smyrna, in which we saw many sights reminding us 
we were in Asia — the trains of laden camels, the veiled 
Turkish women, the fine large cypress trees shading 
the graveyards with their painted inscriptions in 
foreign characters. We visited the deaconesses' home, 
where fourteen of the sisterhood educate between 
two hundred and three hundred children, many of 
the upper class. The establishment is in beautiful 
order, and a bright and Christian spirit appeared to 
reign in it. We hope to-morrow to continue the 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 21$ 

voyage to Beirut. Our dear friends are pretty well, 
though needing rest. Thine sincerely, 

Ellen Clare Miller. 

Ellen Clare Miller writes again in nth mo. to the 
Friettds' Review: 

Beirut, Syria. 

The account of the journey of our dear friends E. 
and S. Jones was brought down to the time of our 
leaving Smyrna. Having now reached Beirut in 
safety, they wish thee and their friends in America to 
know as soon as may be of their welfare, and of the 
pleasant and very interesting voyage which we were 
favored to make safely and comfortably. Since our 
arrival here, on Sixth day, the weather has been so 
broken and stormy that we do indeed feel that there 
is great cause for thankfulness to Him who holds the 
winds and waters under His control. 

We sailed from Smyrna about noon on the 26th, 
gradually losing sight of the beautiful mountains which 
rise up on the south-west side of the bay with their 
fine coloring of gray, pink, green, and purple, which 
gives such a charm to the hills about this coast. We 
passed Chios and Samos — Patmos with its great in- 
terest as the isle to which the beloved disciple was 
banished by the emperor Domitian, and where the 
wonderful visions were revealed to him. The follow- 
ing day. First day, the 27th, we reached Rhodes, and, 
the steamer stopping for a few hours, we went on shore, 
going up the steep street where on either hand stand 
the half-ruined, strongly-built castles and houses once 
occupied by the Knights of St. John. Over each door- 



2l6 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

way may still very plainly be seen the various coats- 
of-arms of the members of the order, the grand master 
having a larger house and more elaborate escutcheon. 
We passed a mosque at the time when the congrega- 
tion were coming out, and saw each man resume his 
shoes at the door ; there were no women. We were 
allowed to look inside, but not to enter more than a 
step or two. It was a plain, whitewashed building, 
with matting, but no seats; texts from the Koran 
painted here and there upon the walls, and a kind of 
pulpit from which the Koran is read. There are many 
Jews and Mohammedans at Rhodes. It was sorrowful 
to think how many there were who were professing to 
worship God, but in so mistaken a manner. E. Jones 
and A. Fox distributed a great many portions of Scrip- 
ture and tracts in Arabic, Turkish, and Hebrew, as 
they did all along the coast at our various stopping- 
places, so sowing much good seed, some of which at 
least may, we hope, take root and bear fruit. 

The whole of the following day was spent in coast- 
ing along that part of Anatolia formerly called Lycia, 
Pamphylia, and Cilicia, keeping very near the shore. 
It was a great privilege to pass near scenes of such 
interest as those regions through which Paul and his 
companions passed, and to see the very places on 
which their eyes must have rested. Cyprus was 
visible on the right, but too distant from us to obtain 
much idea of its appearance. Early in the morning 
of the 29th we found ourselves in the harbor of Mer- 
sina, the port of Tarsus, about ten miles from that 
city, of which Paul was a citizen. This latter place 
itself we could not see, but we were shown the direc- 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 2\*J 

tion in which it lay among the mountains, and the 
point where the Cydnus flows into the sea with its 
cold waters fresh from Taurus, whose snowy tops we 
plainly saw. The ship remained here till the after- 
noon, shipping wheat, and we were much interested 
in seeing a train of one hundred and fifty camels 
winding down from the direction of Taurus and^mov- 
ing slowly along the shore to discharge their freight 
at the warehouses upon the quay. We then turned 
our faces southward, passing not far from Antioch, 
which, however, cannot be seen from the sea. We 
stopped a few hours at Latakia, near which rises the 
cone-shaped Mount Cassius. Soon after passing this 
we had our first view of one of the spurs of Mount 
Lebanon, crowned with snow. This grand and ex- 
tensive range became more and more conspicuous 
until we reached Tripoli, which lies beautifully at its 
feet in a fine wide bay. We sailed very near the island 
of Aradus, the ancient Arvad, opposite to which lies 
" the entering in of Hamath " so often mentioned in 
the Bible, the boundary of the Land of Promise, 
though never of that really possessed by the Israel- 
ites. The weather was very fine, but extremely hot, 
all the time we were on the water. 

The first day we were in Beirut the sirocco was 
blowing a hot, enervating wind. Beirut looks beauti- 
ful, either from the sea or land. It is built along the 
shore at the foot of Mount Lebanon. We find several 
American and English missionaries, many of whose 
schools we have visited and have been much interested 
in them ; also attended some religious meetings. As 
it is the rainy season, the Friends are not able to get 



2l8 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

on quite so fast with their work as might otherwise 
be the case ; but they have been warmly received, and 
their visit seems to be a very opportune one. Our 
party are all in usual health. The dear Friends think 
their health is improved, decidedly so, since they left 
America. Thine sincerely, 

Ellen Clare Miller. 

Another letter from Ellen Clare Miller, from Mount 
Lebanon in nth mo., 1867, to the editor oi t]iQ Friejids' 
Revieiv, says : 

" The last account forwarded to thee of our dear 
friends E. and S. Jones was brought down to the 12th 
of this month. The great storms which had prevailed 
up to that time, severer for the season than had been 
known for many years, passed away on that day. A 
remarkably fine rainbow, double and sixty degrees in 
height, one foot resting on the sea and the other on 
the base of Lebanon, appeared that evening just before 
sunset, giving very welcome promise of the return of 
fine weather. This was very cheering, as the heavy 
rains had for the time suspended the work of visiting 
schools, except that of E. B. Thompson, which adjoins 
M. Mott's house. We are not able yet to give a very 
clear statistical account of the many schools in Beirut 
and Lebanon for the education of boys and girls, but 
there is, indeed, a great work going on through their 
agency — a work of very widely extended influence. 
E. B. Thompson has fourteen schools under her in- 
fluence, some in Beirut, some in the mountains. E. 
Saleeby, a Syrian, who has spent some time in Scot- 
land and England, and whose efforts are principally 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 2ig 

supported by subscriptions from the former country, 
has many more under his care. The American mis- 
sionaries have stations at Beirut and in several towns 
in the mountains, and we are at present at a boarding- 
school for training Syrian girls for teachers, conducted 
by two young ladies from England, sent out by the 
Society for Promoting Female Education in the East. 
They have at present only eighteen girls, on account of 
their limited means ; the school will accomodate thirty, 
and the education given and the Christian influence 
extended, here as at other schools which we have seen, 
are very telling, and are raising the women to a very 
different position from that which they formerly occu- 
pied even among the nominal Christians in the country. 
The prejudice against their education was very great 
among all sects, and still exists, from the Moham- 
medans, who believe that woman has no soul, among 
the Druses, Maronites, and Catholics, and the some- 
what more enlightened Protestants, who are now, 
through these schools, awaking to the advantage of 
having their daughters educated. 

" The people everywhere seem very intelligent, and 
there seems much openness to receive missionaries 
from the Society of Friends, whose spiritual teaching 
is much needed in these parts ; and we hope the feet 
of some may be directed to this Bible land, where the 
fields are already white unto harvest and the laborers 
few, and that Friends may see their way to lend funds 
to carry on this great work of Christian education 
among the females of the East. There is an innate 
nobility in them, and a gentleness and warmth of feel- 
ing in the women, which, when so developed, produce 



220 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

a fine character. Those who cannot speak English 
look at us with eyes full of love and interest, and by 
their expressive gestures convey more than many of 
our words would do. We became much interested in 
the girls of E. B. Thompson's principal school, which 
we frequently visited, Eli Jones taking the Scripture 
class several times. He found their knowledge of 
the Bible and their understanding of its truths equal, 
if not superior, to what we should find in our own 
schools in America and England. Besides this school, 
E. and S. J. visited the infant school in connection with 
it, also three smaller branch schools under E. B. 
Thompson's direction, and a boys' school conducted 
by two very superior young men, native teachers, but 
also under her superintendence. They also went to 
the Prussian Deaconesses' Institution, where the chil- 
dren receive a good education under Christian influ- 
ences ; then to the school for girls under the care of 
Dr. Bliss, the American missionary : of this latter a 
native Syrian and his wife have the immediate super- 
intendence, residing in the house with the boarders. 
The children everywhere are well instructed in the 
Bible, and commit a great deal to memory both from 
the Arabic and English Scriptures. In all the schools 
the Friends delivered their message, exhorting all to 
use diligence to advance in their education, that through 
the instrumentality of her young men and young women 
Syria may rise among nations, and encouraging them 
to seek earnestly and prayerfully after a knowledge of 
Him without knowing whom, with all their learning 
and knowledge, they cannot be truly great — often 
kneeling in prayer with the teachers and scholars 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 221 

before leaving the school. They attended also a 
meeting for the Home Mission Society, where they 
addressed, through the medium of M. Bosistani, its 
principal, the college for the education of Syrian 
young men, as well as the American and E. B. 
Thompson's school, who were all present. 

" On Sixth day morning we started for Sook-el- 
Gharb, a little village twelve miles from Beirut on the 
side of Lebanon, two thousand feet above the sea, 
where 'we intended to remain an hour or two visiting 
the schools there, and then to continue our journey 
a little farther to a village which we might make our 
headquarters while visiting the schools in that neigh- 
borhood, it being considered that the mountain-roads 
would have sufficiently recovered from the effects of 
the storm to be passable. The wind and the rain had, 
however, been so much more violent than is usual at 
this season that the road was much worse than had 
been expected, the path being in some places washed 
away by the torrents, which, wearing themselves a 
rough channel down what had been the road, had 
thrown up a wall of large loose stones on each side, 
making the journey in some parts dangerous, and so 
fatiguing that Sybil Jones was very much exhausted 
on arriving at Sook, and unable to proceed farther 
without a rest of two or three days. As much care 
as possible had been used in getting her up the moun- 
tain, riding being the only means of travelling on these 
steep, rough mountain-roads, with their ascents and 
descents more precipitous than can be well imagined 
without being seen ; but the shaking and exertion were 
quite too much for her back, unused to such exercise, 



222 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and she was confined to bed, suffering much from pain 
and weakness, until Third day, the 19th, when she was 
carried in a chair to this place, twenty minutes' ride dis- 
tant from Sook, by a comparatively level path. The exer- 
tion of this so tired her that with great reluctance she 
had to decide that she must give up the prospect of 
going farther into the mountains. Eli Jones and A. 
L. Fox are accordingly visiting the various mountain- 
schools, while she is remaining at the school in Shum- 
lan. It is a great disappointment and a trial of faith to 
both the dear Friends that it has thus been ordered 
so differently from what had been planned ; but we 
cannot but believe that it will be overruled for the 
best. The ride from Beirut to Sook-el-Gharb is a 
very interesting one. We halted for some time at a 
little rude khan at the side of a little stream of clear 
cold water, where we rested a while under the shade 
of a fine evergreen oak, and had some refreshments, 
being offered cakes of the Arab bread, which is very 
thin and flat and baked of coarse flour, producing the 
effect of a small sheet of chamois leather ; though 
rather tough, it is sweet and quite edible, and in con- 
stant use in this part of the countr>^ They tear off a 
piece, roll it up, and dip it into their food, instead of 
using knives and forks ; and we were much interested 
in hearing that it was still the practice in doing honor 
to another at table to present him with such a piece 
dipped in the choicest part of the mess, reminding us 
of our Saviour's gift to Judas. Our view from this 
village is very fine. We look down on the Mediter- 
ranean, ten miles or more distant, but looking in this 
deceptive atmosphere not more than three or four 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 223 

miles off. Between us and it intervene the terraced 
sides of Lebanon, laid out in mulberry-gardens or 
newly sown with wheat. Our stay at Sook, though 
unintentional, seemed to be in right ordering, for ser- 
vice opened up there. The mistress of the house 
where we were, E. Saleeby's wife, was dangerously ill, 
and has since died, and her husband felt the dear 
Friends* visit one of great comfort and entertained 
us with much kindness. E. Jones and A. Fox visited 
the boys' and girls' school there, as well as at Abeih 
and Bhamdun, some hours' ride from Sook, E. J. 
examining the children in Scripture and in other 
branches, speaking to and praying with them, and 
distributing English and Arabic books. He also 
held meetings at Sook and Shumlan in the school- 
house, attended by the schools and several of the 
villagers, where the words earnestly spoken were 
attentively and gladly received. We have heard 
twice from E. J. and A. L. F. since they left us — good 
accounts. We were hoping to have seen them back 
last evening, but they did not appear. We suppose 
that they must have gone farther than was at first 
intended." 

The following is a letter from Eli Jones, written to 
the Friends' Review a few days later than the above 
letter from E. C. Miller: 

SYRIA AND PALESTINE. 

Shumlan, 12th, 21st, 1867. 
My dear Sybil feeling unable to go farther over these 
almost trackless mountains without time for more rest, 



224 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

it seemed best for her and E. C. Miller to remain at 
the boarding-school for girls at this place under the 
care of two English ladies, Lucy Hicks and Mary M. 
Jacombs, while A. L. Fox and I should proceed in 
the work. Accordingly, on the 22d of last month we 
left at eight o'clock in the morning on horseback, 
attended by an efficient dragoman named Georgius, 
an interpreter, Ibrahim, and Abdallah and Hassan, 
muleteers. After a ride of two hours we reached 
Abeih, and were kindly cared for at the house of 
Simon Calhoun and wife, American missionaries. He 
has been many years in this country, and is, we learn, 
much esteemed by all classes. Our first call was at 
the school of the Druses. The provost of the school 
and the teacher of English met us at the gate and gave 
us a cordial welcome; then led us to an apartment 
where sweetmeats and coffee in tiny cups, according 
to the custom of the countr}--, were served. In answer 
to our question whether the Holy Scriptures were read 
in the school, the teacher of English assured us that 
they were read by his class. He is a student from the 
American school, and will do what he can, I doubt not, 
in his delicate position to inculcate Christian sentiment 
among this peculiar people. 

In the afternoon we visited the boys' and also the 
girls' school, under the care of the American mission, 
and were pleased with the advance they have made in 
their education : we spoke to the children in each 
school, William Bird interpreting, as he did in the 
evening, when we met the young men at the Abeih 
seminary for the education of native teachers. This 
institution has been in successful operation for the 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 225 

last twenty-five years. Each student is expected to 
devote from one to two hours each day to the study 
of the Holy Scriptures. These students may now be 
met in almost all parts of Syria and in Mesopo- 
tamia and Egypt. 

Seventh day, 2^d. Rode to Deir-el-Kamr ; found 
lodgings at the school-house, where E. B. Thompson 
has a small school. After dinner took an hour's ride 
to Beteddin; called at the palace of Douad Pasha, 
governor of the pashalic of the Lebanon. The gov- 
enor was not at home ; we were met by some of his 
subordinate officers, with whom we had interesting 
discourse. 

First day, 24ih. At an early hour we mounted our 
trusty steeds, and reached Mukhtarah about ten A. m. 
Riding up to the palace of the great Druse chief, Said 
Beg Jumplatt, we found the two young princes about 
to set out on a ride to pass the day with friends in a 
neighboring town, accompanied by N. Gharzuzee, the 
tutor of the younger prince, and other officials. They 
offered us the hospitalities of the house as long as we 
were disposed, which we accepted, and -were soon in- 
formed that the princes had given up their anticipated 
pleasure, saying they preferred to spend the time with 
us. The elder prince is nearly eighteen years of age, 
and married ; the younger is about thirteen years old, 
bright and intelligent, and really "the hope of my 
house." His tutor, N. Gharzuzee, who is a native 
of Syria, has spent several months in England ; he 
speaks our language well and appears to be an earnest 
Christian. As Christians we could not fail to feel 
greatly interested in seeing such a man in so im- 

15 



226 ELI AiVD SYBIL JONES. 

portant a position, where he is teaching this young 
man, destined, so far as we can see, to fill the highest 
place of influence among this heterodox people — not 
only sciences and languages, but the pure and unso- 
phisticated doctrines of the Bible. At one p, m. we 
met the children of the American mission and of E. 
M. Thompson's schools, with several of the parents. 
After listening to a very satisfactory examination of 
the children in the Scriptures, I addressed them, N. 
Gharzuzee interpreting in an able manner. The meet- 
ing was one to which I recur with sincere satisfaction. 

2^th. Had our morning reading in Arabic, after 
which prayer was offered in English, in which strong 
desires were expressed in the name of Jesus, on behalf 
of the young princes, for the various members of the 
household and for Syria. We left after many a cor- 
dial shake of the hand and with many a " God bless 
you !" and " May you return to your own country in 
peace !" Near one o'clock p. M. we saw in the dis- 
tance the snow-clad top of Hermon, which we seemed 
approaching. What thoughts filled our minds — 
thoughts too big for utterance — as we stood upon 
"the heights of that goodly mountain Lebanon," 
and saw the noble cone of Hermon rising majes- 
tically toward the meridian sun, while southward 
near its base lay the division of Naphtali, a portion 
of the " land of possession," where we hoped to 
arrive on the following day ! " The north and the 
south, Thou hast created them ; Tabor and Hermon 
shall rejoice in Thy name." 

Passed near a peasant at work with a curious plough 
drawn by a pair of tiny bullocks. We each took a 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 22/ 

turn in guiding the plough, and felt a pleasure for the 
time in occupying a place so often honored by prophets 
and good men of old in this historic land. About the 
time of the going down of the sun we reached Jezzin. 
Weary from the long journey, I lay for a time upon a 
rug near the fountain while our dragoman went to 
look for lodgings. During that brief time many a 
maiden came forth with her pitcher to draw water. 
What strong evidence this that we are nearing the 
Bible land! Lodgings were soon announced. On 
reaching the room intended for our reception we 
found several members of the family busily engaged 
in covering the floor with matting, and near the seat 
of honor a fine carpet was spread. Presently, finding 
I was weary, a thin mattress — or perhaps, as would be 
better understood in our country, a thick comfortable 
— was added as a bed. Here, stretching my weary 
limbs, I sought needed rest. By the time, however, 
that we were fairly domiciled a large circle of men 
came in and engaged in their favorite occupation, 
smoking. Though the fumes of the pipe have for us 
no attraction, but rather the contrary, still, finding our 
neighbors inclined to be social, we strove to make the 
conversation profitable and if possible edifying. In 
the course of the evening our kind hostess inquired 
if we would like water for our feet ? On our replying 
in the affirmative, " a lordly dish " well filled was 
brought, and we were told all things were ready. 
Think what must have been our surprise on being 
told that the young woman standing near had vol- 
unteered to wash the strangers' feet ! Fearing that 
our refusal might be misunderstood, we placed them 



228 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

at the disposal of the "little Syrian maid." With 
what thrilling interest ought we hereafter to read the 
account of what transpired when He whose blood 
cleanses from all sin " girded Himself and washed 
His disciples' feet," saying to them, " If I then, your 
Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also 
ought to wash one another's feet ; for I have given 
you an example that ye should do as I have done 
unto you !" 

The morning of the 26th the priest of the place 
came in, with whom we had some pleasant intercourse. 
After breaking our fast we told the family that it was 
our practice, before proceeding on the journey of the 
day, to read a portion of Scripture and endeavor to 
lift up our hearts to God in prayer, and we gave them 
an invitation to be present. They all remained with 
us, as did the priest. We need not inquire to what 
society these people belonged ; suffice it to say, they 
entertained strangers, they washed our feet, they fed 
the hungry, they bade us go in peace, and refused our 
money as a recompense. After a ride of two hours 
we halted at Cafer Huney, a little village on our route, 
to have our horses' feet examined by a blacksmith 
and shoes set if needful. While waiting we went to 
the fountain, where several persons collected. After 
a time spent in pleasant conversation we spoke to them 
of the heavenly country and of salvation by Jesus 
Christ. We left with them copies of our Lord's 
miracles in Arabic, which they received gladly. One 
of these rustic villagers, a lame man, offered me his 
cane as a walking-stick with such hearty good-will, 
saying he had others at home, that I took it and found 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 229 

it very useful in making the steep descent of Lebanon 
in the afternoon. Near sunset we reached the foot of 
the Lebanon range, and then crossed the Litany (named 
on many maps Leontes) on one of the few bridges to 
be found in this country. An hour and a half more 
brought us to the little town of Abbel, toward which 
we had looked as an Arab village where it might be 
difficult to find secure and comfortable lodging for the 
night Ere we entered all was shrouded in darkness, 
for the night had set in, but, as it proved, a glad sur- 
prise awaited us. In reply to our first inquiry for 
lodgings we were told that "the American church 
would be the best place for us to stop at." A little 
farther on we were accosted by one with whitened 
locks, who, taking our hands, shook them with both 
of his with brotherly cordiality, and then with a light 
led the way to the comfortable house erected within 
the past year as a place for worship and a school-house 
by that devoted band of men whose praise is in all the 
churches in this land — the American missionaries. By 
the time we had entered several of the brethren had 
arrived. The house is without seats. Mats were 
quickly arranged for us ; then followed the arrange- 
ments for supper. A canoon filled with charcoal with 
which to heat the water for tea first arrived ; then one 
brought bread, another eggs, a third sugar, and another 
melons ; and such melons ! worthy the land that pro- 
duced them. All things being ready, the travellers sit 
upon the floor about the inviting meal, and while they 
are busily engaged in satisfying the calls of hunger the 
company increases ; and here our responsibilities widen, 
for as we have been privileged to partake of their good 



230 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

things for the sustenance of the body-, we are in duty 
bound, as far as may be our power, to meet their spirit- 
ual and intellectual wants. I trust this evening, our 
first in Palestine, was spent to the mutual benefit of all 
concerned. On the morning of the 27th the school- 
children and several of the parents came in, to whom 
we spoke words of encouragement in the pursuit of 
useful knowledge, and especially that which " maketh 
wise unto salvation." An hour more brought us to 
Krhyam, where we met another school. We spoke to 
them of Him who is the only " Hope of Israel." Again 
in the saddle, we rode away across the extensive and 
fertile valley of Marjaiyum. 

Just before reaching D' Mimas we met William Eddy 
of New York State, a minister in connection with the 
American mission. On learning our intentions, he 
kindly proposed to return to D'Mimas, that he might 
be with us during our stay; his presence and kind 
care contributed largely to our comfort. Here we 
visited another school and met several of the brethren 
socially. The subject of education, and especially the 
education of women, was freely discussed. We en- 
deavored to show them that no people can be happy 
or prosperous while woman holds a degraded position 
among them, and that it is in vain to look for great 
men where good and virtuous mothers are not to be 
found. As we press onward what a view opens before 
us ! One short hour farther we stand upon a rocky 
knoll near the ancient town of Abel, where Joab 
claimed Sheba the son of Bichri as a condition of 
peace. Looking eastward, toward our right are the 
hills of the ancient Bashan, thickly dotted with oaks. 



LE TTERS FR OM S YRIA. 2 3 T 

those emblems of strength ; toward the left Hermon 
lifts his head to heaven in solemn and solitary majesty. 
Not far are the sites where stood Laish, Dan, and 
Csesarea Philippi of the Scriptures, which we hope 
to visit before nightfall, and all around on either hand 
we have spread out before us one of the great battle- 
fields of the Bible. We spent a short time in the town 
distributing a few Arabic books, and met with, as far 
as we could learn, the only school-teacher, who told 
us he had under his instruction fourteen boys. We 
tried to give him encouragement in the work, and 
gave him a copy of the Psalms. 

Soon after mid-day we reached Tell-el-Kady, " the 
hill of the judge," the Dan of Scripture. Two things 
are here worthy of special notice : the fountain of the 
Jordan and the site of the ancient city of Dan. The 
Tell is cup-shaped, and bears evidence of being an 
extinct crater. On an island of rocks in size little 
more than sufficient to accommodate our party, and 
beneath the wide-spreading branches of an ancient 
oak, we took our humble mid-day meal. We had 
scarcely begun to satisfy our own appetites when a 
mounted Arab, armed to the teeth, rode up and asked 
for food, to whom we gladly gave a portion, for, once 
fed from our store, he becomes an ally, not a foe. Per- 
haps I ought here to add that on our way to this place 
from Abel we were accosted by an armed Arab, who 
demanded " backsheesh " as I rode abreast of him : 
feeling that we owed him naught but love and good- 
will, we gave him no money, and were suffered to pass 
without further molestation. The ruin of the ancient 
city of Dan is very complete ; a few broken v/alls, fallen 



232 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

stones, and pieces of pottery are all that are left to tell 
of a people long since passed away. 

The story of Dan is soon told. Originally an ag- 
ricultural colony of the Phoenicians, called Lessem or 
Laish, it was captured by six hundred Danites from 
the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol. The capture of 
Laish by the Danites in the north was the fulfilment of 
Moses's prophetic blessing to the tribe : " Dan is a lion's 
whelp; he shall leap from Bashan." Deut. xxxiii. 22. 

Another hour's ride brought us to Banias, standing 
amid the ruins of the ancient Cassarea Philippi. The 
modern village is inhabited by some one hundred 
persons of the Moslem faith, who live in wretched 
ignorance and poverty. We lodged at the house of 
the sheik ; a room was assigned us and mats spread. 
There we stretched our weary limbs, but, as the sequel 
proved, not so much to sleep as to contemplate upon 
the fact that we had nearly reached the base of Hermon 
and the site of Caesarea Philippi, and upon the record 
that our Lord, after healing the blind man at Bethsaida, 
" came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi " — that not 
far from this place He made that striking appeal to 
His disciples: "Whom say ye that I am?" and soon 
after, taking three of His disciples, " He went up into 
a mountain, and was transfigured before them." Yes, 

" I tread where the Twelve in their wayfaring trod, 
I stand where they stood with the Chosen of God — 
Where His message was heard and His lessons were taught, 
Where the blind were restored and the healing was wrought." 

The next morning, before leaving, we conversed 
with a son of the sheik, himself a husband and father, 
upon the importance of education. He acknowledged 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 233 

his own inability to read, and further said that the 
children were all needed by their parents to work ; 
and as to woman, her business was to care for the 
house and meet the wants of men, and if she did not 
do this well she must be beaten to make her do it. 
Such is the state of civilization where once stood a 
great and prosperous city, whose architectural ruins 
attest the fact that its citizens must have been men 
of skill and taste. Again in the saddle, we turned 
our course northward. Near noon we ascended a 
high elevation, where our dragoman halted and called 
out, " Look ! look !" Facing southward, we looked 
and saw Hermon on our left standing in majestic 
greatness, and beyond, far to the south, the waters 
of the Sea of Galilee. Mid the glare of a noonday 
sun the little sea seems a molten mass of silvery hue. 
We have within the scope of our vision a mountain 
whose name is accepted as a word of beauty, a valley 
of great natural fertility, and the arena of mighty 
deeds done by men whose record is found in the 
" Book of books," and whose God is the Lord. Here 
young Jordan springs into life and links its destiny 
with the waters of Merom, and onward the eye stretches 
to that now placid sheet where in a dark and stormy 
night the chosen band were troubled, and where a 
compassionate Saviour allayed their fears. 

We dined at Rasheiyet,* at the house of a native 
Protestant minister, where we were kindly entertained. 
He accompanied us to the school of the American 
mission. We were pleased with what we saw, more 

* In tracing out the course of these travels I have used the spelling 
given in Bradley's Atlas of the World. 



234 ^LI AND SYBIL JONES. 

especially with the students' knowledge of scriptural 
history. Several hours more brought us to Hasbeiya; 
we lodged at the school-house and had our mats 
spread upon the seats, thus extemporizing a bed- 
stead. Next morning about twenty of the girls came 
in to meet us, and also two of the female teachers. We 
spokt; of the way of life and salvation, with such words 
of encouragement as we found in our hearts. A ride 
of several hours brought us to Rasheyya el-Wady. We 
lodged at the house of one Moses, the first person of 
the place who embraced Protestant views. 

Next day, 1st of 1 2th mo., held a meeting at the 
school-house. I felt strengthened, as I trust, to 
preach " Christ, and Him crucified," as the only 
way of life and salvation. On the following day at 
an early hour we passed out of the town by the light 
of a lantern. At half-past one p. m. we began to as- 
cend Lebanon. At one place near the top we found 
our path literally strewed with fossils (bivalves) ; some 
of these we collected to take home with us. After a 
journey of nearly fifteen hours we reached Shumlan, 
our mountain-home, and were glad to find our com- 
panions in comfortable health, and I trust a feeling of 
thankfulness was felt to our heavenly Father for His 
protecting care so mercifully granted during our sep- 
aration. Very sincerely, thy friend, 

Eli Jones. 

We give below some extracts from letters written to 
the Friends' Revieiv by Ellen Clare Miller, giving a 
definite account of the number and working of the 
schools in Beirut and Lebanon for the education of 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 235 

the young sons and daughters of Syria. E. and S. 
Jones have visited the greater number of them, and 
found many different kinds of laborers — Americans, 
English, Scotch, and Syrian — all doing a good work 
for the land : 

" Most of those among the natives who are true 
Christians, and who are exerting a good influence 
upon the people here, refer gratefully to the Amer- 
ican missionaries as those who were instrumental in 
bringing them to the truth. The American mission 
has stations at many places among the mountains, 
most of which have been visited by Eli Jones and A. 
L. Fox ; and besides those in the north of Syria, which 
we shall not see, they have three in Sidon and its 
neighborhood under the care of W. Eddy, which we 
hope soon to visit. The Syrian Protestant college of 
which Dr. Bliss is president is an institution where 
Druses, Maronites, Greeks, Armenians, and Protest- 
ants together receive a literary, scientific, and med- 
ical training under Protestant influence. E. and S. 
Jones visited this college last week, when they met 
twenty-eight of the young men, whom they were in- 
vited to address. Eli Jones set before them clearly 
and forcibly the great power of individual influence 
possessed by each student, the influence their institu- 
tion must exert on the land, the measure it was of the 
power of the country, as no stream can rise higher 
than its source, and as the fountain is the stream will 
be. Sybil Jones, as an American mother who knew 
much of such institutions in her own land, affection- 
ately urged them to work perseveringly and prayer- 
fully in their studies, that each one might leave the 



236 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

world better for his having been in it. It was a very- 
interesting visit; the young men, a fine, intellectual- 
lt)oking company, Hstened with great attention, and 
afterward gathered round the Friends to express their 
thanks for their kind interest in them. 

" There is a large girls' school in Beirut, under the 
immediate care of a Syrian and his wife, but superin- 
tended by the wife of Dr. Bliss, Dr. Thompson's wife, 
and other ladies. This we have visited more than 
once, when E. and S. Jones have spoken to the chil- 
dren." 

" Besides the school at Shumlan, which is under the 
care of the English Society for Promoting Female 
Education in the East, the schools supported by Eng- 
land are all in the hands of Elizabeth Bowen Thomp- 
son, whose work is a very extensive one. Her schools 
are at present twelve in number — five at villages in the 
mountains — all (with the exception of one recently 
opened at Ainzabatte, where an English young lady 
is stationed) taught by natives who have been trained 
by E. B. Thompson herself Her work here began in 
i860, when the fearful struggle between the Druses, 
Maronites, and Mohammedans made so many widows 
and orphans. These Elizabeth Thompson gathered 
around her at Beirut, providing for and educating 
them. Since then the field has gradually opened 
before her, until she has now seven day-schools in 
Beirut and its immediate neighborhood, and a normal 
training-school of upward of sixty boarders. All of 
these E. and S. J. have visited, many of them fre- 
quently." 

" There are many daughters of Jews and Moham- 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 23/ 

medans among E. B. Thompson's scholars, and it is 
very interesting to hear these little girls singing Chris- 
tian hymns with the others and repeating and listening 
to passages predicting the coming of the Messiah alike 
of the Jew and the Christian, and testifying of Jesus 
as the Christ. E. and S. Jones had a very interesting 
meeting with about forty of the native teachers and 
others connected with these British schools. There 
is a large girls' school, with an orphanage, under the 
care of the Prussian deaconesses, similar to the one 
we visited at Smyrna. Here Sybil Jones had an in- 
teresting time with the sisters and the children. She 
also visited the hospital, an establishment in beautiful 
order, under the care of four of the sisterhood, where, 
in a large house finely situated near the seashore, the 
very poor are kindly nursed and cared for. A school 
for Jewish children, conducted by missionaries sent 
out by the Jews' society in Scotland, has lately been 
established in Beirut. To this also the Friends paid 
a visit, which was spoken of by teachers as very 
helpful." 

" We left the terraced sides of Lebanon on the last 
day of the year, returning to the region of the palm, 
orange, and prickly pear. The weather has this month 
been very fine, though broken now and then by one of 
the fierce, sudden winter storms with their rushine 
rain and violent thunder and lightning. This wild 
climate suits Sybil Jones remarkably well ; she has 
been better since returning to Beirut than she remem- 
bers to have been before, and she enjoys the riding on 
donkey-back. Eli Jones is better than when we first 
landed in Syria, though the bracing air of the moun- 



238 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

tains suits him better than this more relaxing temper- 
ature. We have visited most of the missionaries. 
Friends and their principles were almost unknown 
here, but we have been most kindly received, and we 
hope way has been made for others of our Society who 
may come to this country. E. and S. Jones one day 
visited the Beirut prison, into which they were ad- 
mitted without hesitation, and where they had the 
pleasure of speaking to about forty poor creatures, 
and of pointing them to Him who alone has power 
to break our spiritual fetters." 

Below we give extracts from a letter of Eli Jones to 
the Friends' Review, written from Jaffa in Palestine : 

" 2d mo. lyth, 1868. E. C. Miller's health appearing 
not quite equal to a long journey, and finding it not 
possible to obtain more than three seats in the dili- 
gence for Damascus on the 25th of ist mo., it was 
arranged that our young friend should ' stay by the 
stuff' in Beirut while the other members of our party 
went forward. Accordingly, at the early hour of two 
o'clock A. M. we arose, breakfasted at half-past two, 
and at three took conveyance for the station, and at 
four precisely, with shawls, wraps, sandwiches, etc., 
were nicely packed in the coupee of the diligence." 

'* Our ride increased in interest as the young day 
grew upon us, and by the time the sun had thrown 
his full blaze of light athwart the western slope of 
Lebanon the objects seen through the transparent 
atmosphere of this land presented a most delightful 
view. Our course was sufficiently tortuous to enable 
us at times to look down upon Beirut and its sur- 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 239 

rounding olive- and mulberry-orchards, stately palms, 
and suburban villages, while beyond lay the Great Sea, 
dotted here and there with the sail of many a merchant- 
ship, and then again Sunnin, the highest western point 
of Lebanon, snow-capped, stood majestically before us 
clad in the changing hues of early morning." 

" Reached the summit near ten, and after another 
hour's ride of almost flying speed we looked down 
upon the great valley of Buka'a or Coele-Syria, 
bounded on the east by the Anti-Lebanon, clothed 
in its snowy vesture, while far to our right Hermon, 
the imperial monarch of Syrian mountains, was seen, 
in its appearance fully justifying the appellation some- 
times applied to it — that of a silver breastplate." 

" Just as the darkness of night shut out from our 
view the fertile valley in which Damascus stood, our 
last relay of animals was attached to the carriage, con- 
sisting of six white horses ; and fine specimens they 
were. A little farther on our attention was arrested 
by the sound of water on our right, and we were told 
that it was the Barada River, the Abana of Scripture. 
*Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, 
better than all the waters of Israel ?' The remainder 
of our journey lay along the fertile valley of this an- 
cient river. It may, with the strictest propriety, be 
termed a * river of Damascus,' as it divides the city 
into two parts and furnishes a liberal supply of water 
to many of its inhabitants. We found comfortable 
quarters at the Dimitris' hotel. The proprietor, a 
Greek, speaks broken English and strives to make 
the stay of his guests as agreeable as circumstances 
will admit. 



240 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

"26th. Sent our certificates to the missionaries for 
their perusal. At 12 m. attended the prayer-meeting 
of the few persons here who speak Enghsh. After 
some singing and prayers, and a rather long theolog- 
ical discussion, liberty was given to others to speak. 
My dear Sybil availed herself of the opportunity to 
express the feelings which lay with weight upon her 
heart. This was done briefly, when she knelt in 
earnest supplication on behalf of those present and 
for the spread of the glorious gospel of God our 
Saviour." 

" The next day visited two of the schools under the 
care of the missionaries ; strove to encourage teachers 
and pupils to act well their part. Then went to the 
home of one of the Bible-women employed by E. B. 
Thompson to go from house to house and teach such 
women as desire to read the Bible." 

" During our stay in the city we had frequently at 
our morning readings of the Holy Scriptures the com- 
pany of the Bible- women and a few others, when our 
hearts were made glad in the Lord." . . . "A few weeks 
previous to the abdication of Louis Philippe the French 
obtained a foothold in Algeria, after a lengthened strug- 
gle of fifteen years or more, when Abdel-Kader, the 
sultan of the Arabs and one of the most remarkable 
men of his nation, was induced to surrender to the 
power of the French, on the condition that he might 
be allowed to retire to a Mohammedan country as a sti- 
pendiary exile." . . . "He is a follower of Mohammed, 
the founder of Islamism, and has shown his devotion 
to the teachings of the Koran by a pilgrimage to 
Mecca and Medina and by a lifelong adherence to 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 24I 

the religion of his fathers. In i860 thousands of 
Christians in the Lebanon and in Damascus were 
massacred in cold blood, instigated by the deadly- 
hate of the followers of the false Prophet, while hun- 
dreds of others, men, women, and children, fled from 
their pursuers and took refuge in the house and about 
the premises of Abdel-Kader, who in the exercise of 
the influence his position gives him, and from the 
promptings of a kind heart, aided by his trusty fol- 
lowers, shielded the helpless ones from the fury and 
fanaticism of his co-religionists. Once the mob ap- 
proached his house and demanded with frantic yells 
that the Christians within it should be delivered up 
to them. He, accompanied by a strong body of his 
followers, went out to confront the yelling crowd. 
* Wretches !' he exclaimed, * is this the way you honor 
your prophet? May his curse be upon you ! Shame on 
you ! shame ! You will yet live to repent. You think 
you may do as you like with the Christians, but the day 
of retribution will come. The Franks will yet come and 
turn your mosques into churches. Not a Christian 
will I give up. They are my brothers! The mob 
withdrew." . . . " Abdel-Kader * was at length enabled 
to repose. He had rescued fifteen thousand souls be- 
longing to the Eastern churches from death, and worse 
than death, by his fearless courage, his unwearied ac- 
tivity, and his catholic-minded zeal. All the repre- 
sentatives of the Christian powers then residing at 
Damascus, without one single exception, had owed 
their lives to him. Strange and unparalleled destiny ! 
An Arab had thrown his guardian aegis over the out- 

* From Life of Abdel-Kader, by Col. Churchill. 
16 



242 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

raged majesty of Europe. A descendent of the Proph- 
et had sheltered and protected the (professed) Spouse 
of Christ. The day previous to our leaving Damascus 
it seemed right to seek an interview with this noble 
exile, and from a full heart, in my own name and in 
behalf of my country and fellow-professors, thank him 
for his kind and humane interposition, by which, under 
Providence, so many fellow-beings were rescued from 
an untimely and a cruel death. Passing up the street 
upon which the house of the great chief stands, and 
having Abou Ibrahim for a guide (who, by the way, 
claims descent from Aaron), we observed Abdel-Kader 
enter the gateway just before we reached it, where he 
was standing when we arrived. Our guide having 
addressed him, he kindly noticed A. L. Fox and my- 
self, and, cordially beckoning us to follow him, led us 
to a simple reception-room, where, being seated, we 
had an opportunity of saying what lay nearest to our 
hearts, and enjoyed the pleasure of feeling that it was 
kindly taken.* While in Damascus w^e were in the 
* street called Straight,' and visited the place indicated 
by tradition as the house of Judas, where the blind 
Saul of Tarsus lodged. We were shown the house 
of Ananias, who was sent to cure the penitent of his 

* Eli Jones spoke his mission in English, Alfred Fox translated it 
into German, and the Jew gave it to the Arab sultan in his own lan- 
guage. Through the medium of three of the world's great languages 
the representatives of these three great religions expressed their thoughts 
to each other, and the burden of the thoughts was love and gratitude. 
The message being given, refreshments were put before the strangers, 
and then Abdel-Kader withdrew as a courtesy, so that these visitors 
might not be constrained to go out backward from his presence — an 
honor due to him as sultan. 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 243 

blindness, and the place in the wall where the disciples 
took him by night and let him down in a basket. I 
am not surprised that the Christian traveller feels some 
misgivings as to the identity of these places when he 
remembers that the evidence is mainly traditional. 
There is, however, scarcely room to doubt that the 
modern city occupies the site of the Damascus of 
Scripture, and that the * street called Straight ' is the 
identical one entered by Saul on that memorable day 
that gave to the Gentile world a great apostle and to 
the Christian Church one of its brightest luminaries." 
..." The conversion of Paul was one of the most 
momentous events of Scripture history. The fiery zeal 
of Saul the persecutor was not extinguished — it was 
sanctified." . , . 

" Paul the missionary retained all his former 
energy, boldness, and determination. In Damascus 
he first preached ' Christ crucified ;' then he went 
into Arabia, then to Antioch, then through Asia Mi- 
nor; then he passed the Hellespont to Greece; and 
then he went a prisoner to Rome, where he preached 
the gospel though chained to a heathen soldier. The 
apostle Paul occupies the first place among the New- 
Testament worthies." ..." Damascus is as old as his- 
tory itself. It has survived generations of cities that have 
risen up in succession around it and have passed away. 
While they all lie in ruins, Damascus retains the fresh- 
ness and vigor of youth.". . . " Outside of the eastern 
gate of the city is a leper hospital, which to this day 
is supposed by the inhabitants to occupy the site of 
Naaman's house." . . . "There are in the city about thirty 
thousand Christians, ten thousand Jews, one hundred 



244 ^^^ ^^D SYBIL JONES. 

thousand Mohammedans, and of Protestant Christians 
less than one hundred, all counted." 

"On the 31st of the month we returned to Beirut 
by diligence. During our stay of five days at Da- 
mascus snow had fallen upon the mountains, but not 
so as materially to retard our progress until we had 
nearly reached the summit of Lebanon, when, being 
furnished with a train of twelve animals and four out- 
riders, aided by a strong force of men, we proceeded 
without much detention, arriving at our comfortable 
quarters in good time." . . . *' We anticipate leaving 
in a few days for Jerusalem, should the weather permit 
and the health of our party prove equal to the effort." 
..." With love to all who love the truth as it is in 
Jesus Christ, 

" Eli Jones." 

The following are extracts from a letter from Ellen 
Clare Miller, written a few days after the return of Eli 
Jones and A. L. Fox from Damascus : 

" Eli Jones had a meeting at Beirut with some of the 
young Syrian men of the town, which, though it was 
a stormy night, was well attended and an interesting 
time. On First day, the 9th, he had a very good 
meeting in a suburb of the town at the house of one 
of the principal men in the neighborhood." ..." It 
was a ver}^ interesting group, upward of one hundred 
being present, some of the turbaned old men leaning 
forward on their staves with their eyes fixed on Eli 
Jones while, after the reading of the twelfth of Ec- 
clesiastes from the Arabic Bible, he addressed them 
through the aid of our kind interpreter, Maalim Saleem, 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 245 

seeking to bring all before him, old and young, to enter 
into the service of Him whom he had from his youth 
proved to be a good Master." 

" On the 7th, Sybil Jones had a meeting with the 
women connected with E. M. Thompson's school, at 
which she spoke to them for about an hour of our 
need of a Saviour." ..." Many of these women have 
learned to read, and they are very anxious that a school 
should be opened for them where they may be taught 
to read and sew by a native teacher." ..." She visited 
also some of the poor women at their own homes and 
the Bible-women employed by E. M. Thompson, all 
of whom seemed very ready to receive a visit from 
one having their best interests at heart, and to listen 
gladly to the word spoken." ..." On Second day 
evening a meeting was held by Eli and Sybil Jones 
with the Arabic-speaking congregation at Beirut, who 
readily responded to the invitation to meet them. Eli 
Jones addressed them from the words, * The law was 
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus 
Christ.' " . . . " Sybil Jones followed, urging the ne- 
cessity of a heart-changing repentance." ..." Sybil 
Jones paid interesting visits to some of the harems at 
Beirut, the first time we had been inside any of those 
'gilded cages,' where the poor women, without the 
resource of books, for they cannot read, or of work, 
for they cannot sew, talk, sleep, dream, and smoke 
life away, without the variety of walking out, for they 
cannot be trusted abroad, and unable to look out into 
the world except through a lattice. We went under 
the care of E. M. Thompson, who obtains ready ac- 
cess." ..." We were driven as near the first house 



246 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

as the carriage could be taken, but on alighting had to 
ascend a steep, rough, narrow road, crossing a water- 
course here and there, then a branch road of steps, 
then another torrent-path. The roads of ill-governed 
Syria are deplorable indeed. At last we reached the 
door of a large but unpretending-looking house, or 
rather group of houses, for one opened out of another. 
Here lived four families, related to each other, of the 
first rank in Beirut, the grandmothers, the wives of the 
house, girls, and children, in the flowing dress of the 
East, sitting on the floor by the ashes of the braziers 
or crouching on the divan, all but the youngest smok- 
ing the unfailing nargileh with its long flexible tube. 
They received us most cordially and affectionately, and 
seated us by their sides, and through the medium of 
one of E. M. Thompson's native teachers Sybil Jones 
spoke to them, and also E. M. Thompson ; but it was 
very difficult to secure the attention of the company 
for any length of time ; they could not refrain from 
laughing and chatting together. Poor creatures ! some 
of them looked almost devoid of intellect with the 
long pipe-tubes in their mouths; others were very 
pretty and seemed quite to appreciate the loss they 
sustained by being uneducated. Some of the highest 
Mohammedan families are very anxious that E. M. 
Thompson should open a school for their elder girls, 
where they would send them if no man was allowed 
to look upon them. The desire for education is wak- 
ing up among them in a remarkable manner." . . . 
" The ladies are all waited upon by dark, white-teethed 
African female slaves in scanty clothing. Sherbet, 
coffee, and sweetmeats were handed round, and it is 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 247 

an insult to decline partaking, however many houses 
we may have visited." ..." Poor creatures ! we could 
not but desire that the true light might enter their 
dwellings and shine into their hearts." 

" We sailed from Beirut on the 12th, and came down 
the coast in the night, passing in the darkness Sidon, 
Tyre, Mount Carmel, and Caesarea. After a rather 
stormy passage we anchored next morning before 
Jaffa, which rises up from the sea on a round hill, at 
each side of which is a sandy bay." ..." It is diffi- 
cult by description to give much idea of Jaffa with its 
steep, narrow, dirt}'', and muddy lanes, and street- 
stairs which climb up the hill among the old, dilap- 
idated houses crowded irregularly together." . . . - 
"Jaffa is very ancient, and, notwithstanding its ex- 
treme dirtiness, an interesting place." ..." The most 
interesting place to visit in the town itself is the sup- 
posed — and, indeed, well-authenticated — site of the 
house of Simon the tanner, which stands by the sea- 
side, rising up above the town-wall. The building 
now standing is not supposed to be the very one in 
which Peter lodged, but to have been built on the spot 
where it stood. In the courtyard is a very ancient well 
which helps to identify the place, and beside if is a 
large stone trough of undoubted antiquity, probably 
used to soak hides in, and partly covered by a large 
flat stone like a currier's table." 

"There is mission-work going on at Jaffa; P. 
Metzler, a German educated at the Basle institution, 
carries on a mill, with part of the profits of which he 
supports a girls' day-school." ..." Eli Jones with A. 
L. Fox visited this school the other day, when he 



248 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

spoke to and examined the children, with whose in- 
telligence and answers he was much pleased." 

" While the Friends were in Damascus I was present 
at a native weddinjj, where the honored Quests were 
each furnished with a taper to hold ; which had a great 
interest as a remnant of the going forth with lamps to 
meet the bridegroom alluded to in the parable of the 
Ten Virgins. New light too has been thrown on the 
expression * heaping coals of fire on his head ' by find- 
ing that it is customary for the baker when he clears 
his oven at night to give away the living embers to 
those who will accept the kindness ; and we have met 
persons in the evening carrying these coals away on 
their heads in large open braziers. It is remarkable 
how little the customs of the people have changed 
within the last two or three thousand years." 

After the above letter was written the Friends went 
from Jaffa to Jerusalem, thence to Marseilles, having 
held many meetings and interviews with teachers 
and scholars in the schools, which are doing a great 
work toward causing the light of day to dawn upon 
unfortunate Syria. The following extracts from a 
letter written by Eli Jones to the Friends' Review from 
London will state clearly the reasons for their leaving 
Palestine sooner than was expected : " We are again 
in this great cit}% and comfortably quartered at the 
house of our very kind friends Stafford and Hannah 
S. Allen, where we are seeking rest and a renewal of 
strength for further service for our good Master. For 
more than two months past my dear Sybil has been 
suffering from an attack of disease, leaving her at times 



LETTERS FROM SYRIA. 249 

very weak ; consequently, we were unable to accom- 
plish fully what we had in view in the Orient, leaving 
several places in Palestine and in Egypt that we might 
hasten the time of embarkation at Alexandria in order 
to bear our invalid to a more favorable climate, as the 
only thing likely to facilitate a cure. The voyage, with 
the use of remedies prescribed by the physician on 
shipboard, arrested the disorder for a time, and we 
hoped the cure might prove permanent ; but the jour- 
ney by train from Marseilles to Nismes proved too 
much for the strength of our charge, and the disorder 
rallied with fresh force and continued for some time, 
but again yielded to skilful treatment and nursing by 
our dear friend Lydia Majolier, whose kindness and 
sympathy, with those of our much-loved friends in the 
south of France, greatly cheered all our party. Near 
noon of the 8th we took the train for Paris, and thence 
to London by way of Boulogne, where we arrived after 
a journey of thirty-three hours' continuance. Dear 
S. bore the journey admirably, and we now entertain 
the hope that a few days of quiet and rest may be of 
great use, so that we may be able to proceed to Dublin 
in season for the yearly meeting. Our long sojourn 
in the East has not been without its trials. Sometimes 
they seemed to us peculiar, and when we attempted to 
look into the future it seemed doubtful if not dark. 
Still, that kind Hand always stretched out to save has 
gently led the way and shielded us from harm. Blessed 
be^the name of the Lord!" . . . "A. L. Fox left us 
last evening for his home, where we now fancy him in 
the society of wife and child, father and mother, broth- 
ers and sisters, to whom he is tenderly attached and 



250 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

by whom he is greatly beloved. Dear E. C. Miller 
intends to remain until Second or Third day of next 
week before she leaves to join the home-circle, by 
whom she will receive a warm welcome, but saddened 
by the thought that one dear sister waits not on earth 
to welcome the coming one, but in another and higher 
scene of existence." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SECOND VISIT TO THE HOL Y LAND. 

The cause for which the two Friends came to Eng- 
land before fully accomplishing their work in Syria was 
the extreme feebleness of Sybil Jones. A change and 
partial rest seemed imperative. 

They soon began to labor in Cornwall, and they 
were gratified to find " Quakerism still vital " in this 
place where George Fox had sowed the seed exactly 
two centuries before. Considerable time was spent 
and much edifying work done at Falmouth, where 
they were pleased to find so many Friends of high 
literary and scientific attainments. The small meet- 
ings of the neighboring villages received new life from 
the earnest words and encouraging advice of the 
travellers. 

One of their letters describes the visit to a meeting 
at Come-to-Good in the parish of Kea : 

" Here is a meeting-house belonging to Friends 
built more than two hundred years ago. It has a 
most primitive appearance. The walls are of stone, 
the abutments of the same material; the roof is 
thatched with straw. It is in a rural and retired spot. 
Only one Friend, and he of more than fourscore years, 
resides in the neighborhood; but the many grassy 

251 



252 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

mounds that press about the door tell of generations 
that have passed away. The meeting here was one 
of great interest, and one to which we recur with un- 
feigned pleasure. He who, we doubt not, has from 
time to time met his servants here and at that altar of 
" unhewn stones," was now present to bless the waiting 
ones. In this humble structure George Fox proclaimed 
the good news with his wonted zeal and with all the 
energy of a reformer." 

In the same letter Eli Jones writes with great 
feeling : 

" A little farther on we reach the Land's End. Here 
it stands, a bold promontory, with granite fingers point- 
ing toward the New World. As I climb these mighty 
bulwarks that have successfully defied the power of 
Old Ocean through every change of time, and look 
out upon the unstable waters toward the setting sun, 
what thoughts of kindred and country fill my breast ! 
Lord of life, great Spirit in the centre of all worlds, 
bless thou them !" 

For more than two months they dwelt at Plymouth, 
during which time Sybil Jones gained strength rapidly, 
although she was in a very critical condition. A 
Friend from that city writes of their message there : 
" I believe there are many in this part of the country 
who will have reason to bless God in eternity for the 
visit and gospel labors of Eli and Sybil Jones." Mem- 
bers who had never before opened their lips in public 
bore testimony that they desired to be on the Lord's 
side. 

The southern part of England was faithfully trav- 
elled over, and the joys of a " life hid with Christ in 



SECOND VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND. 253 

God " proclaimed to the people, who everywhere re- 
ceived the messengers and the message gladly. The 
various meetings of Ireland were again attended. A 
warm reception was given to the American workers, 
who were already well known there from their pre- 
vious efforts, and an earnest and loving spirit seemed 
to pervade many hearts. As this year (1868) was 
closing, Eli Jones, with a heart full of love to God 
for his immeasurable blessings, wrote to one of his 
friends in the land which he so loved : 

" As we turn to other households and to our coun- 
try, and to other countries and peoples, we see every- 
where evidences of the superintending care of Him 
in whom we live and move and have our being. And 
are we not reminded by divers tokens for good that 
light is advancing ? And may we not accept as true 
the words of the poet: 

* Upon the great dial-plate of ages 
The light advanced no more recedes ' ? 

If this be so, let us bind on our armor, and as the new- 
born year takes its place as the successor of those that 
are past, and after it shall have done its full measure 
of service in the long line of years shall give place to 
others, who we hope may be blessed in their deed and 
doing far beyond their progenitors. 

" On the closing day of the last year I stood with 
my fellow-travellers upon the western slope of Mount 
Lebanon, and there reviewed the past and looked 
prayerfully forward to the incoming year — a year 
whose history will soon be complete. And what a 
history ! and what a work has been accomplished ! — 



254 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

work in which millions have been actors. The citizens 
of the two great English-speaking nations, Great Brit- 
ain and the United States, have with unprecedented 
unanimity at their late elections declared in favor of 
religious liberty and of political equality. In Spain 
multitudes seem only waiting to claim for themselves 
and their countrymen these inalienable rights of all 
men. 

" Even in Turkey, where the teachings of the Koran 
and the False Prophet have dominated so long, see 
we not bright rays of light here and there amid the 
darkness ? I think we do. The Christian woman 
with her firman from the sultan is diligently insti- 
tuting schools where the children of the Jew, the 
Christian, and the Mohammedan are taught not the 
Koran, but the page written by inspiration of God. 

" If we turn to Madagascar, that far-off island of the 
sea, we observe much with which to fill a large page 
in the history of the year just closing. A queen has 
reached the throne who looks approvingly upon the 
workers among her pagan subjects, while thousands 
press about those who tell the good news of salvation 
by Jesus Christ, and hear them gladly ; while Liberia, 
India, China, and Japan can each furnish a page that 
shall tell of light advancing and declare to the world 
that ' God is love ' and the * Father of us all.' " 

As the winter passed and Sybil Jones felt new 
strength come from her partial rest in Great Britain, 
while her husband continually carried on the work, 
sometimes alone, sometimes with her help, they each 
began to feel that there was more work to be done in 
the East, though neither had spoken to the other in 



SECOND VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND. 255 

regard to it. The 22d of 2d mo., their prospect hav- 
ing become definite, with the full approval of English 
Friends they once more embarked for Syria. They 
spent nearly a week in the south of France, revisiting 
their many friends there and encouraging them all to 
continue on in their lives of service to the Master. 
The meetings were very large, sometimes fully five 
hundred being present, and they found their work 
done sixteen years before had left a lasting impres- 
sion. 

After a delightful voyage over the blue waters of 
the Mediterranean they came to Alexandria, where 
there were many opportunities offered for spreading 
the news of the way of life through the Saviour. 
Here and at Cairo there were many who gladly lis- 
tened to the great truths which they were inspired to 
preach. There, where Napoleon had told his soldiers 
that forty centuries looked down upon them from the 
heights of the Pyramids, these missionaries of love 
labored to point their hearers to the Ancient of Days, 
whose habitation is from eternity and which standeth 
sure. The different mission-schools of Northern Egypt 
were visited and helped in various ways. 

Of this work Ellen Clare Miller, again their com- 
panion, writes : 

" The visit to Egypt was altogether of remarkable 
interest, there being, especially among the native Chris- 
tians at Alexandria, an interesting and open field for 
the spread of spintual Christianity, and an earnest 
longing in the minds of some after a closer acquaint- 
ance with the teaching of the Holy Spirit and His ap- 
pearing in the souiy 



256 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

The i6th of 4th mo. they came to the end of their 
journey, and camped outside the city of Jerusalem. 
At once they began the work of visiting schools and 
holding little meetings for all who wished to hear the 
gospel, not only in Jerusalem, but in all the surround- 
ing villages. As these laborers rose before the groups 
gathered round them on the very spots where the works 
of our Master were wrought and where his words were 
spoken, with the scenes of the greatest historic events 
stretching out before them, a new power seemed to fill 
them, and their souls were stirred for the salvation and 
upbuilding of the people of this Holy Land. No class 
of its inhabitants was neglected ; even the lepers were 
recipients of their message. Eli Jones visited the com- 
munity of these unfortunate beings, and tried to induce 
them to come to the hospital prepared for them, telling 
them also of Him who came into this world to deliver 
us from even a worse disease than leprosy. 

A letter from Eli Jones, written from Burkin, will 
suffice to give the reader an idea of their travels and 
a description of some of the places visited. Among 
others he speaks of Ramallah, where the mission- 
school was begun during their visit there. The let- 
ter was written for the Fnends' Reviezv: 

" Tented near this Httle town, the time of day some- 
thing past * high noon ' and the heat at 94° in the shade, 
I take the time to jot down a few thoughts, or perhaps 
I should say facts, for the perusal of my North Amer- 
ican correspondents. Since I last wrote thee we have 
passed through portions of the ancient country of 
Egypt, have looked with feelings of admiration and 
wonder upon her pyramids and hieroglyphics, the 



SECOND VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND. 2$ 7 

former standing out to-day in all their primeval 
strength to tell of the greatness, or perhaps more 
correctly of the folly, of their builders, and the latter 
as we saw them upon the lasting rock apparently as 
clearly defined as when fresh from the hand of the 
recorder. 

" The Nile, emphatically ' the river of Egypt,' still 
flows onward to the sea, and in its season annually 
waters the country, giving abundant fertility to the 
soil, which if cultivated with skill and care would 
make the adopted country of Joseph again the granary 
of the world. We had a very pleasant sail upon this 
wonderful river, embarking near the spot where floated 
the ark of bulrushes containing the Hebrew child who 
in the fulness of time became the leader and deliverer 
of Israel from their long bondage in the land of the 
Pharaohs. At the time of our visit the river was 
spanned by a bridge of boats, thrown across by order 
of the viceroy on the occasion of the marriage of some 
members of his family: this circumstance gave us a 
carriage-ride for several miles where otherwise we 
must have had recourse to donkeys as a mode of 
conveyance. 

" A canal has been constructed extending from the 
Nile near Cairo to Suez upon the Red Sea ; these places 
are also connected by the railroad ; much of the way 
this runs parallel to the canal. On our way to the 
latter place we followed the iron horse for five or six 
hours across the desert of sand which must needs be 
passed, and which is enlivened only by the moving 
sails upon the canal, the untiring steeds that bore us 
on, and those tell-tale wires which, as with loving 
17 



258 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

arms, are embracing not only the seas and fertile lands, 
but also the desert wilds. An highway (Isa. xi. 16) is 
here, and shall not tJiis desert yet blossom as a rose ? 
To our party the Red Sea was an object of much in- 
terest : as we sailed out upon it we beheld at our right 
the mountains through whose defiles the Lord's people 
are supposed to have passed on their approach to the 
water's edge, where, notwithstanding the hot pursuit 
of their enemies, they were to hear the assuring lan- 
guage : * Fear ye not ; stand still and see the salvation 
of the Lord, which He will show to you to-day ; for 
the Egyptians which ye have seen to-day, ye shall see 
them again no more for ever;' and on our left was the 
gently-sloping strand where they made their exit from 
their watery way, and where we subsequently landed, 
some of our party going a little way into the interior 
to drink of the waters at the * well of Moses,' which 
remaineth unto this day. Let the God of Israel be 
magnified, and let not His wonderful works be for- 
gotten by the children of men. 

" During our brief stay in this part of Egypt we had 
occasionally the opportunity of observing the progress 
of the work upon the projected ship-canal across the 
Isthmus of Suez. Of its ultimate completion and suc- 
cess its projectors are very sanguine, and it is equally 
clear that for the attainment of that end great engineer- 
ing skill has been displayed and a large expenditure 
of money been made, and such a measure of unfalter- 
ing perseverance and of unflagging determination to 
overcome opposing difficulties brought into requisition 
as have been manifested in few other enterprises under- 
taken by man. 



SECOND VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND. 259 

"On the 6th of the 5th mo. the male members of our 
party left for Jericho, travelling the very road, we may 
suppose, upon which the man was journeying who * fell 
among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment and 
wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.' 
We halted near mid-day under the * shadow of a great 
rock,' and not far from the spot made ever memorable 
and dear to the Christian by one of the most beautiful 
and instructive parables of our blessed Lord — that of 
the Good Samaritan. 

" We found the way rough and in some places dif- 
ficult, yet there are in several places indications that in 
the centuries past, perhaps in the days of Roman rule, 
there was a highway here where the chariots of Jehu 
and Jabin might have * rolled harmlessly on.' 

" Our tents we located near the modern Jericho, 
which is supposed to occupy the site of Gilgal, the 
camping-ground of the host commanded by Joshua, 
and where he did 'pitch those twelve stones which 
they took out of Jordan' in commemoration of their 
miraculous passage through the waters. Almost im- 
mediately upon reaching this place we put ourselves in 
communication with the people. Found the entire 
population Moslem, not one of whom can read, and 
the evidences of moral degradation, especially among 
some of the females, were remarkable. It should be 
said, however, that when we spoke to them of mat- 
ters of the highest moment, and read to them from the 
sacred volume, the majority listened with some ap- 
proach to respectful attention. 

In the evening the sheik and some twenty or more 
of the men of the village responded to an invitation to 



26o ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

come to our tent : we read a portion of Scripture and 
spoke to them of the beneficial effects of education 
upon a people, and of our individual duties to God. 
Our remarks were ably seconded by Prof E. C. Mit- 
chell of Alton, 111., who kindly united with us in striv- 
ing to stimulate the inhabitants of Jericho in the way 
of mental and moral improvement. At the close of the 
interview they assured us that we were the first persons 
who had ever offered them a helping hand or spoken 
to them of a better way than the one they were then 
pursuing, and added that on the next evening they 
would tell us whether they would accept our offer to 
give them a school. At an early hour next morning 
we were on our way to the Dead Sea, where we en- 
joyed the luxury of a bath in its bitter and buoyant 
waters ; thence we passed on to the Jordan, to the place 
where thousands of pilgrims come in commemoration 
of the passage of the pilgrim band from Egypt under 
the lead of Joshua, and of the baptism of the world's 
great Deliverer by John, that the righteousness of the 
law might be fulfilled. Here we lunched and dupli- 
cated our bath in the Dead Sea : found the current of 
the river strong and rapid, requiring much care to re- 
tain one's position. The water is shoal, but of suf- 
ficient depth in places to allow of baptism by immer- 
sion. 

*' On our return to Jericho the sheik kindly engaged 
to convene some of the people in the town, where we 
met fifty or sixty persons, and among the number 
several females, who brought their long pipes and en- 
gaged in smoking as they took their seats upon the 
ground. Their faces and breasts were sadly tattooed, 



SECOND VISIT TO THE HOL Y LAND. 261 

and on the whole they presented a spectacle not easily- 
matched short of the Western wilds of America. It 
is, however, but justice to this country to say that 
during my long stay here I have nowhere else seen its 
like. The motley company were addressed by Prof. 
Mitchell and others of our party, and we cherish the 
hope that this labor will not be in vain in the Lord, 
but that in due time fruit may appear. Soon after 
reaching our tents several of the men called to say that 
they wished a school for their children, and if we would 
send a teacher they would gladly receive him. I hope 
the means may be found to support a school at this 
place. The good influence would extend rapidly to 
the towns around. 

" First day, 9th of the month, some of our party at 
an early hour in the morning were at Bethany, the 
town of Mary and Martha, where we collected upon 
the top of a house such persons as we found at liberty, 
and read the account of the raising to life of Lazarus, as 
recorded by the evangelist, after which we trust Jesus 
Christ was preached as the resurrection and the life. 

" At half-past two p. m. of the 1 ith we left Jerusalem 
on our journey northward, and soon after reached 
the top of Mount Scopus, where on our right we en- 
joyed a delightful view of the Dead Sea, the valley of 
the Jordan near its mouth, and beyond the mountains 
of Moab, and, turning to review the ground travelled 
over, we had Jerusalem full in view ; and perhaps from 
no other point is the city seen to greater advantage 
than from this, unless it be from Olivet. Tradition tells 
us that Titus, the Roman invader, selected the top of 
Scopus for his camping-ground, from which he could 



262 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

easily observe much that was transpiring in and around 
the doomed city. 

" We now leave, probably for the last time, the city 
dear to Jew and Greek, to Moslem and Christian, and 
especially dear to us who have found an open door to 
preach there Christ, and Him crucified. 

" Some half hour on our way from Scopus we 
turned aside a little to look upon the village of Ana- 
thoth in the land of Benjamin, the home of Jeremiah 
the son of Hilkiah. Resuming our course, we soon 
reached * Gibeah of Saul.' The place is indicated by 
little more than a conical hill, which lay to our right. 
On our left and more distant, capping a high eminence, 
Mizpah was seen. Farther on Ramah was reached, the 
home of the good Samuel, 'and Samuel judged Israel 
all the days of his life. And he went from year to 
year in circuits to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and 
judged Israel in all those places. And his return was 
to Ramah, for there was his house, and there he 
judged Israel, and then he built an altar unto the 
Lord.' 

" Reaching Ramallah, some three hours from Jeru- 
salem, we found our tent in readiness to receive us. 
The town occupies an elevated position overlooking 
the distant plain of Sharon. The air was cool and 
bracing. 12th, visited a boys' school at Ramallah. 
In the afternoon some of our party visited one at Jif- 
neh, the Gophna of Josephus. 13th, went to Bethel, 
distant one and a half hours from our encampment. 

" On approaching this place, so noted in Scripture 
records, we observed the remains of a cistern 314 feet 
by 217 feet, constructed of massive stones; the south- 



SECOND VISIT TO THE HOL Y LAND. 263 

ern side is entire, the other sides are more or less ruined. 
A portion of the enclosure is now used as a threshing- 
floor. Here also is a fountain at which the cattle of 
Abraham often drank in former days, and at which the 
maidens of Sarah were wont to fill their pitchers as the 
Arab maidens do still. 

" The Bethel of to-day is a miserable Moslem village 
with a low, uneducated population, amongst whom we 
were unable to find more than one person who could 
read. He is the one who calls the people to prayers ; 
to him we gave a tract and the Psalms of David in 
Arabic. 

" As we spoke to some of the inhabitants of our 
great Father in heaven, and of our obligations to serve 
Him, we were answered with little more than a vacant 
stare and an expressed wish for backsheesh. What a 
contrast between these followers of the False Prophet 
and him who is called the * father of the faithful,' who 
here spread his tent and here rendered true homage to 
the great / Am ! and how unlike the patriarch Jacob, 
who here, beneath heaven's broad canopy, slept, as 
many an Arab now sleeps, on the bare ground with 
a stone for his pillow ! Here he dreamed of the ladder 
which reached from earth to heaven, and on which the 
angels were ascending and descending, and on awaken- 
ing was so impressed with the holiness and majesty of 
Jehovah that he exclaimed, ' How dreadful is this place ! 
This is none other than the house of God.' And here 
the cheering promise was given him : * In thee and all 
thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed ; 
and behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all 
places whither thou goest.' 



264 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

" Here Samuel, worthy of double honor, a prophet 
of God and a judge in Israel, came on his yearly cir- 
cuit from Gilgal and Mizpah to hold his court and 
render righteous judgment between brethren; and 
thitherward turned the steps of Elijah and Elisha 
while fulfilling their high commission as servants of 
God. 

" And here too came the youthful king Josiah, as 
foretold by the prophet, and brake down the high- 
places of Jeroboam, and burned down to the ground 
the grove that grew up on the hill for the worship of 
Astarte. 

" On our return from Bethel we held a meeting at 
Beeroth — now called Bireh — with a few Christians and 
Moslems. Our interpreter read the fifth chapter of 
Matthew, after which I drew their attention to the 
teaching of the gospel, dwelling at some length upon 
the words, * Therefore whatsoever ye would that men 
should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.' They 
listened with marked attention to all that was said. 
On leaving we were told that a few years since a diffi- 
culty arose from a very slight cause between two fam- 
ilies in the town, and, spreading to others, the spirit of 
strife and revenge grew higher and higher till in their 
murderous fury forty-four persons lost their lives, and 
since then the spirit of revenge had shown itself in 
other ways. Only the night before our meeting val- 
uable fig trees had been destroyed from the same 
cause, and we were told that some of the parties con- 
cerned were present and heard our words of exhor- 
tation. 

" Beeroth was one of the four cities of the Gibeonites. 



SECOND VISIT TO THE HOL V LAND. 265 

whose curious story the name will at once recall. It 
is also thought to be the halting-place of Joseph and 
Mary when they found that the child Jesus was not 
among their friends and kinsfolk of the party. Ra- 
mallah, twenty minutes from Beeroth, is professedly 
a Christian village, occupying a commanding position 
from which we get a fine view westward down the 
mountain-sides of Benjamin and Ephraim, and over 
the broad plain of Sharon to the Mediterranean. 

" Toward evening we held a meeting at the Protest- 
ant school-room in this town. The crowd of men, 
women, and children became so dense that nearly 
every one assumed a standing position, and all seemed 
very eager to see the strangers^ and, as I thought, very 
curious to hear a woman address a public assembly. 
My S. J., taking her stand upon a bed in a corner of 
the room, spoke earnestly and at considerable length 
upon the way of life and salvation, to which many 
listened with fixed attention. 

" I4.th. At the request of S. J., a meeting was ap- 
pointed for females ; many responded, and a satisfac- 
tory meeting was held. Meantime, the male members 
of our party called at the Latin convent. Found the 
monk at its head with a school of eight or ten boys, 
which he summarily dismissed upon our entering, 
assigning as a reason that it was time for them to 
leave, though it was but ten o'clock in the morning. 
From the answers which he gave to our numerous 
inquiries we were induced to think that although he 
and his associates may not do much to enlighten the 
people around them, yet that as an individual he is 
really loyal to the Church of which he is a member, 



266 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

and that he considers salvation very unlikely, if not 
impossible, apart from conformity to its rules and its 
traditional observances. 

" In the evening a meeting was held with males 
only, in which they were exhorted to prepare to 
meet their God in peace by repentance toward Him 
and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and also to a 
faithful performance of their several duties as hus- 
bands, fathers, and brothers, that so the position of 
women may be elevated in this land and her children 
prepared for a useful career among men. 

"I am closing this sheet at Beirut, the I2th of 6th 

mo. ; and as the mail closes very soon, I have only 

time to add that our party are in good health and 

look to turning their faces homeward in a few days. 

"Thy loving and sincere friend, 

" Eli Jones." 

It will not be possible to give the further details of 
the faithful efforts of this little party to promote the 
highest earthly and eternal welfare of the inhabitants 
of this once highly favored land. They visited all the 
spots made sacred by the steps of Him whom they 
followed, but they went not to satisfy their desire 
of beholding: they bore tidings of joy to the sor- 
rowful. They pursued their journey as far north as 
Beirut, preaching in every city and village, and leav- 
ing in many places money behind them for the ad- 
vancement of education. Wholly devoted as they 
were to the service of the Lord, with great love for 
all the human souls where they went, and power being 
given them to tell the story of a mighty Deliverer, the 



SECOND VISIT TO THE HOL Y LAND. 267 

fruit of work must have been very abundant. We do 
not need to count those converted in such work for 
the Lord, and even if we could we should still be 
unable to estimate the value of the seed thrown broad- 
cast over the land, which may long lie dormant and 
finally bud into new grain. 

On the 22d of 6th mo. Eli and Sybil Jones, with 
their companions, E. C. Miller, Joseph Pim, Richard 
Allen, and T. C. Wakefield, sailed from Beirut for the 
Occident, stopping on their way at Athens, Marseilles, 
and Geneva, and reaching London the loth of 7th mo. 
Soon after their arrival in England the two American 
Friends embarked for their home. Sybil Jones's work 
in the Eastern continent was now complete, and she had 
the great satisfaction of feeling that she, had in every 
particular obeyed the call of Him whom she served. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 

** For ever blessed be His name who bore 

Her blood-washed, white-robed spirit on and on, 
Through dark, deep waters to the radiant shore, 
Her warfare ended and the victoiy won. 

" Her children, underneath her native skies. 

Rise in the North, the South, the East, the West : 
In Europe, Asia, Africa they rise, 

Her sons and daughters, and pronounce her blessed. 

" Oh for a zeal like hers, to never tire ! 
Oh for a faith like hers, to follow still 
The cloud by day, by night the glowing fire. 
That led her on to do her Father's will !" 

Delphina E. Mendenhall, " To Sybil Jones. ^'' 

After the return from the East a few more days 
were left for Sybil Jones to tell the same story to men 
and women nearer her own home. Her frail body had 
carried her to many shores, and had not given way 
until she was once more among lifelong friends. 

She had presented Christianity to Mohammedan 
women " from the standard of equality of sex in social 
life, religion, and the ministry of the word." She had 
entered the " gilded cages" of Eastern harems and 
** borne the gospel with a sister's love to those unhappy 
inmates — glad tidings which they had never heard 
until proclaimed by her lips." With no relaxation 

268 



SYBIL JONES: HEU. LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 269 

of fervor, with no diminution of power, she continued 
to tell those not living in communion with God that 
*' to be carnally-minded is death," and with the earnest- 
ness of one saving drowning men from the depths of 
the sea she stretched forth her hands and raised her 
touching voice to save them from a still worse death, 
the wages of their sins. The series of general meet- 
ings which Friends had just begun to hold gave her an 
opportunity to come before large audiences of all de- 
nominations, of the different classes. Many who came 
were unconverted ; many more were in a dangerously 
lukewarm state ; others needed strength and comfort. 
To one and all she proclaimed the great truth that 
whosoever liveth unto himself dieth, but " whoso hath 
the Son hath life ;" and to the hearts where sorrow and 
discouragement and doubt dwelt she spoke of a joy 
for the world, an encouragement " to press toward the 
mark for the prize," a faith and belief that overcome. 
Over those long Maine hills, in the balmy air of 
autumn, fresh from the yellow grain and mellow fruit, 
or creaking through the snowdrifts of mid-winter, she 
and her husband, both with the same thought upper- 
most, rode to sit down on the high seats of those broad- 
based, low-eaved Friends' meeting-houses, and to rise 
again and speak messages of healing inspired by the 
great Physician. She loved to live, for every day gave 
her one more chance to call to the unhappy to be made 
happy. She loved to live, because she enjoyed the 
beautiful things which God brought daily before her 
eyes in His book written with His own hand. It was, 
too, a joy to her to be with her family, to be a mother 
to her dear children, a wife to her wedded fellow-laborer, 



270 ELI AXD SYBIL JOXES. 

and a friend to the many who loved her; but while she 
loved life she knew enough of our God to be assured 
that when her " bark sank it would be but to another 
sea," and that what we call death is but going from a 
chrysalis life to a fulness of knowledge and a fulness 
of life. No change that merely freed her of what 
could die and left her wholly immortal could be terrible 
to her, and so she had never, in all the days of extreme 
sickness which she had passed, had other thought than 
that she was being kept from work. To the \&ry last 
she pleaded with her wonted earnestness : " I beseech 
you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God," and 
she loved to quote the hymn which expressed the 
aspiration of her soul : 

" Oh, if one soul I've pleaded with 
Meets me at God's right hand, 
My heaven will be two heavens 
In Immanuel's Land." 

The thought has often been expressed that as the 
spiritual life of a man or woman grows, develops, and 
gains complete master}', the body gradually takes on a 
new and deeper beaut}^ ; a something which had not 
formerly existed shines out and hallows the face, and 
somewhat as the setting sun puts over the clouds a 
glor}' which throughout all the long sunshiny day had 
not been seen, so a brighter gleam comes out from a 
ripened soul, and it becomes more than ever evident 
that the inhabitant of the clay house had come " trail- 
ing clouds of glor}' from God who is its home." This 
was decidedly true with her. The tall, erect, queenly 
person, the large head, high forehead, deep hazel eyes, 



SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 2/1 

the smile which so often played upon the lines of her 
countenance, — all took a new meaning as the " light 
which never was on sea or land" shone through them, 
proving that her " citizenship was in heaven" and that 
she indeed was " a fellow-citizen of the saints." We 
know not what is beyond our ken for such as she, but 
we believe that He who created such a wondrous home 
for the mortal part has otherwhere a proportionally 
magnificent domain for that which dieth not. A few 
hours before she died she exclaimed in the words 
of the martyr Rutherford: 

" Oh, well it is for ever. 
Oh, well for evermore. 
My nest hung in no forest 

Of all this death-doomed shore." 

And on the afternoon of the 4th day of 12th month, 
1873, she left the life of toil and struggle for the life of 
reward. 

Ellen Congdon of Providence wrote in fitting words : 
" I have taken comfort in the midst of this great be- 
reavement to the Church militant in thinking of the 
rejoicing and the welcome as her ransomed spirit took 
its place among the redeemed of all generations. Yet, 
far, far beyond even this must have been the holy 
rapture with which she realized the fulfilment of that 
gracious promise : * Thine eyes shall behold the King 
in His beauty, and thou shalt see the land that is very 
far off.' " 

The governor of the State showed his appreciation 
of the departed one in the following extract from a 
letter to her son Richard : " Had it been possible I 
should have been present at the funeral services. I 



2/2 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

remember your mother from my boyhood, and re- 
ceived the news of her death with profound sorrow. 
She exemphfied the true Christian character in a de- 
gree rarely equalled in this life ; indeed, she has always 
appeared to me more in the heavenly than the earthly. 
In her death the Christian religion has lost one of its 
brightest ornaments and noblest defenders. Yours is 
the priceless consolation which the gospel and the re- 
membrance of a life so full of noble deeds afford. Any 
words of mine would be poor and weak, but I cannot 
forbear conveying to you and your much-esteemed 
father, whom I have known and honored for many 
years, my heartiest sympathy. Yours very truly, 

" Sidney Perham." 

Her funeral, held in the Friends' meeting-house, was 
attended by a large company of friends, relatives, and 
neighbors. The citizens of the town came in large 
numbers to look for the last time on the one whom 
they loved and reverenced. Harriet Jones, Samuel 
Taylor, Sarah Tobey, and others spoke feelingly. 
" All hearts were moved," says one who was present, 
" as our venerable and highly esteemed friend Eli 
Jones arose, controlling the feelings of a heart filled 
with sorrow, and revealed what had heretofore been 
kept by him — viz. the manifestation of divine power 
that had attended her mission while they travelled in 
foreign lands; also the blessing following her labors 
during the past few months in attending some one 
hundred and forty meetings, principally in her own 
State, in which she appeared like a reaper gathering 
the harvest." 



SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 273 

It is never well for us to speak over- highly of any- 
one or of the service of any one. Power speaks for 
itself We spend no breath of praise on the might of 
Niagara or the majesty of Mont Blanc. God has made 
them so that they tell us themselves continually of 
their grandeur. In like manner, the character and 
work of his human creatures tell to their generation 
and the following ones their strength and worth with- 
out the aid of man's voice. 

What Sybil Jones did and said has been felt and has 
made its impression in the world, and no word which 
now might be spoken could add to what she really 
accomplished. For sixty-five years she went about 
doing what she seemed to have been sent to do. She 
was under no shackles of creed, but she had a faith 
which anchored her ; she built on a foundation which 
had already been laid, and she wasted none of her 
energy seeking answers to unnecessary questions. 
Her whole heart was in her work, and nothing held 
her back in her desire to go on herself to perfection 
and to call others thereto. The power of her spiritual 
discernment was shown in numerous cases where she 
told minutely the state and feeling of some before 
her, and she felt out wonderfully the proper course 
for her to take. She seemed to grow stronger as 
she engaged in a new field of work, and not unusually 
she left her bed of sickness to undertake an arduous 
journey for an absence of one or two years. She 
went from Ireland to Norway on a couch, and there 
endured remarkable hardships, but grew stronger as 
she worked, and was almost daily before the people 
for the next six months. She had a striking influence 

18 



274 ^LI AND SYBIL JONES. 

over unprincipled and dangerous men, and she never 
hesitated to go alone among the greatest outcasts. 
The swearing sailors on the ship for Liberia grew 
more gentle as they knew her, and she walked fear- 
lessly into the cell of one of the worst prisoners in 
the United States : he was touched to tears and 
blessed the day that brought her to him. 

As a minister she was especially gifted in exhorta- 
tion and prayer, but she knew the Bible, and she knew 
experimentally the meaning of its promises and com- 
mandments. Her use of language was remarkable: 
every thought she wished to express was clothed 
richly, every truth was made clear to her hearers, 
and no words were wasted. God gave her a voice, 
not like Milton's, " whose sound was like the sea," 
but soft as the wind in the trees and strong to reach 
the farthest seats. There was a music in it which 
charmed, and a reserved power and volume which she 
could use when the occasion called for it. 

The good people in the south of France still say, 
" She seemed to us like an angel ;" which shows how 
her earnest tones and kind deeds Impressed these 
simple-hearted people, who saw too few that loved 
to feed the sheep and the lambs. Her active work 
in the ministry began with her first visit to the prov- 
inces. Between that time and her death she went as 
a herald through her own land ; to Liberia, to Eng- 
land, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, 
and France ; to Scotland, Greece, Egypt, and the Holy 
Land. Few women, if any, before her had been called 
to so many and so widely separated peoples. By every 
race and nation she was kindly received, and she was 



SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 275 

enabled to speak to them boldly and with such power 
that the lives of those who heard her were noticeably 
changed. Standing often where woman never stood 
before to speak, she lovingly urged the multitudes of 
ignorant, unsaved hearers to come to the Lord for 
teaching and salvation. The effect of her live words 
on those who had heard only formal preaching can 
hardly be described. When in her most earnest at- 
titude, she was calm in her pleading, avoiding all that 
was sensational and speaking simply to reach the heart. 
There has never been a more striking instance of re- 
liance on the divine Voice in the soul. There were 
numerous occasions in her life when not only all her 
friends, but skilful physicians, concurred in advising 
her to rest her exhausted body when she felt work 
immediately before her. In every case she replied, 
" I have this work to do now ; I cannot take another 
course ;" and in no case was she mistaken. Once at 
least she went from her own home to the train on a 
couch, but the results of the visit could leave no one 
in doubt from whence came the command for her to 
go forth. 

Like Madame Guyon, it was her unceasing desire to 
bring her individual will into full harmony with the 
will of God, and like her she sought earnestly to dis- 
tinguish minutely between her own impulses and the 
promptings of the Spirit of God ; not unlike Madame 
Guyon, she knew her place to be where she could 
work actively among men for their enlightenment. No 
small part of her work was with soldiers and prisoners. 
Following the example of Elizabeth Fry, she went 
where sin had made the deepest stains. Not only did the 



2/6 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

inmates of wards and cells become gentler as she 
talked to them, but they regarded this world and the 
next from a different standpoint when she had finished 
speaking to them of the one hope which she had 
come to bring them. 

As she understood the New Testament, and as she 
interpreted the whisperings within her, it seemed clear 
that the disciple of Christ must devote himself or her- 
self to uplifting a larger or smaller portion of the 
human race, the radius of influence depending on the 
number of talents received — that each servant's work 
might be different, but each one must get into an atti- 
tude to find his task, and then all must work to pro- 
duce fruit for the same harvest-home. 

The following is quoted from Harriet Beecher Stowe 
in her Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands : 

" C. had been with Joseph Sturge during the after- 
noon to a meeting of the Friends, and heard a dis- 
course from Sybil Jones, one of the most popular of 
their female preachers. Sybil Jones is a native of 
Brunswick, Maine. She and her husband, being both 
preachers, have travelled extensively in the prosecution 
of various philanthropic and religious enterprises, 

" In the evening Joseph Sturge said that she had ex- 
pressed a desire to see me. Accordingly, I went with him 
to call upon her, and found her in the family of two aged 
Friends, surrounded by a circle of the same denomina- 
tion. She is a woman of great delicacy of appearance, 
betokening very frail health. I am told that she is 
most of her time in a state of extreme suffering from 
neuralgic complaints. There was a mingled expression 
of enthusiasm and tenderness in her face which was 



SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 2/7 

very interesting. She had had, according to the lan- 
guage of her sect, a concern on her mind for me. To 
my mind there is something pecuHarly interesting 
about the primitive simplicity and frankness with 
which the members of this body express themselves. 
She desired to caution me against the temptations of 
too much flattery and applause, and against the world- 
liness which might beset me in London. Her manner 
of addressing me was like that of one who is com- 
missioned with a message which must be spoken with 
plainness and sincerity. After this the whole circle 
knelt, and she offered prayer. I was somewhat pain- 
fully impressed with her evident fragility of body com- 
pared with the enthusiastic workings of her mind. In 
the course of the conversation she inquired if I was 
going to Ireland. I told her yes, that was my in- 
tention. She begged that I would visit the western 
coast, adding, with great feeling, * // was the miseries 
which I saw there which have brought my health to the 
state it is in! 

"She had travelled extensively in the Southern 
States, and had in private conversation been able very 
fully to bear witness against slavery, and had never 
been heard with unkindness. The whole incident af- 
forded me matter for reflection. The calling of women 
to distinct religious vocations, it appears to me, was a 
part of primitive Christianity ; has been one of the 
most efficient elements of power in the Romish Church ; 
obtained among the Methodists in England ; and has 
in all these cases been productive of great good. The 
deaconesses whom the apostle mentioned with honor 
in his epistle, Madame Guyon in the Romish Church, 



278 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

Mrs. Fletcher, Elizabeth Fry, are instances to show- 
how much may be done for mankind by women who 
feel themselves iuipelled to a special religious vocation. 
The example of the Quakers is a sufficient proof that 
acting upon this idea does not produce discord and 
domestic disorder. No people are more remarkable 
for quietness and propriety of deportment and for 
household order and domestic excellence. By the 
admission of this liberty the world is now and then 
gifted with a woman like Elizabeth Fry, while the 
family state loses none of its security and sacredness. 
No one in our day charges the ladies of the Quaker 
sect with boldness or indecorum, and they have dem- 
onstrated that even public teaching, when performed 
under the influence of an overpowering devotional 
spirit, does not interfere with feminine propriety and 
modesty. The fact is, that the number of women to 
whom this vocation is given will always be compara- 
tively few : they are, and generally will be, the excep- 
tions, and the majority of the religious world, ancient 
and modern, has decided that these exceptions are to 
be treated with reverence." 

John G. Whittier writes in his poem, the " Meeting :" 

" Welcome the silence all unbroken, 
Nor less the words of fitness spoken — 
Such golden words as hers for whom 
Our autumn flowers have just made room, 
****** 
Or haply hers whose pilgrim tread 
Is in the paths where Jesus led ; 
Who dreams her childhood's Sabbath dream 
By Jordan's willow- shaded stream, 
And of the hymns of hope and faith 
Sung by the monks of Nazareth 



SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 279 

Hears pious echoes in the call 

To prayer from Moslem minarets fall, 

Repeating where His works were wrought 

The lessons that her Master taught — 

Of whom an elder Sibyl gave 

The prophecies of Cumae's cave." 

In conclusion, it will be proper to insert the follow- 
ing brief sketch from one who knew her most inti- 
mately : 

" Naturally extremely timid, when duty called her 
fearlessness was wonderful. With nerves so sensitive 
that the closing of a door would often startle her, in 
God's service she looked calmly upon death and 
danger in every form. Though much and accept- 
ably before the public, the truly feminine graces ever 
stood forth prominently in her character. With her 
own hands she often performed the duties of her 
household, always entertaining much company, not 
only from neighboring States, but from foreign lands ; 
guided to manhood and womanhood five children, 
and soothed the last hours of many of her kindred. 
With a bodily frame very much enfeebled by a com- 
plication of diseases, she was constantly being re- 
minded of the uncertainty of her life, and ever lived 
nearer to heaven than earth. Her mind was frequently 
absent, and when called back it was found to have 
wandered after some poor soul who had not yet re- 
ceived the * good news ' which her life w^s conse- 
crated to publish. So little did she notice the land- 
marks of this earthly journey that the writer of this 
can affirm that scenes and places through which she 
had passed a score of times were ever new and un- 



28o ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

familiar to her absent gaze. When engaged in mis- 
sionary labors her faith that God would care for her 
and hers was deep and constant. God's com- 
mands were her sole guide of her life; when these 
reached her she prepared to obey them without a 
thought of the means. Her invariable remark was, 
* I am the King's daughter : the gold and silver are 
mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.' Before her 
faith-inspired energy every difficulty vanished. She 
left the aged and enfeebled mother or the babe at her 
breast, committing them to the Master in child-like 
trust. Through all she clung with the relentless grasp 
of an abiding faith to the promises of her prayer- 
answering God, and if ever a cloud came over her way 
she remained on her knees until she saw its ' silver 
lining.' It may, then, with truth be said of this woman 
that her leading aim on earth was the winning of souls 
to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the staff on which she 
leaned the faith of Abraham, and prayer her * vital 
breath; " 



There are a few extracts from some of the letters 
written by Sybil Jones very near the end of her life 
which will be read with interest, since they set forth 
the progress of the active religious work which Friends 
in New England were just beginning at that time, and 
also give expression to her faith in regard to such work 
with reference to the necessity of an abiding defence 
against everything which might hinder permanent 
blessing. 



SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 28 1 

She writes, ist mo. 31, 1870, to her dear friend 
S. T. : 

" I agree with thee that a revival is greatly needed, 
and that one is really begun and is prospering is cause 
for grateful songs of thanksgiving and praise to Him 
who causeth the outgoings of this brighter dawning to 
rejoice. Let our united prayers go up to the * throne 
of God and the Lamb ' that upon all the glory there 
may be a defence. That this glorious visitation will 
have its temptations we must know, for whenever the 
Spirit of Christ begins to work for the salvation of 
souls thiiDugh the blood of the Lamb, Satan presents 
himself to defeat by various stratagems, if possible, the 
blessed work. My faith is, however, that the Most 
High will protect his own children and his own work, 
and cause it to prosper and spread abundantly. The 
bow of promises spans the whole. There is a great 
awakening in these parts ; many old sinners are turn- 
ing to the Lord and speaking of His great love. Young 
people too are bringing their early offerings to Him, 
for which my heart rejoices greatly." 

gth, 22d^ 1^73' She writes from Oak Grove Seminary 
in Maine : " My dearest S., I am still here, and have 
been so ill I thought I might not see my dear sister 
any more below or reach my dear little home, my 
earthly tent; but my gracious Lord has led me up 
from * the crossing ' again thus far, and I rejoice in 
His will, whatever it may be. I have reached this 
place on my way home, and hope to be able to go in 
a few days if the Lord will. 

" Thou may have heard of the wonderful outpour- 
ing of the Holy Spirit at the general meeting in Win- 



282 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

throp. I attended only one session, but I never was 
more happy. Peace and glory reigned around while 
poor sinners were coming to Jesus. The gospel full 
and free and in apostolic simplicity was preached, and 
great was the company of those who heard it and 
were moved by its power through the Spirit. 

" I cannot tell thee much now. I was laid aside 
with my Beloved, and oh the richness and fulness of 
His love to His weak child ! I seemed to enjoy all 
that was passing in that wonderful tent where three 
thousand were present on First day. Many from city 
and country said they never heard such a powerful 
gospel message before. People are calling in every 
direction for the Friends to come and hold meetings. 
Let us be instant in prayer, ready to do our part in 
the vineyard of the Lord." 

4.th mo, 20, iSyj. Not many months before her own 
departure she writes of her mother's death in a letter to 
S. T., headed " Travellers' Home :" " I have been watch- 
ing a sweet loving mother to the banks of the stream 
where all of my own family save my lonely self had 
passed before. I felt sure she would see the beautiful 
summer-time on earth no more ; of this she too was 
aware, and made all needful arrangements for the event 
to her desirable. She appeared more and more angelic 
in expression and features as the time drew near to 
leave us. Her prayers and exhortations at the family 
altar were offered in great self-abasement, but wonder- 
fully beautiful and fervent. The last night was a glo- 
rious time to her : though in great suffering, her face 
appeared so youthful and fair, beaming with such 
serenity, that all could bear witness to her victory 



SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH. 283 

through the blood of the Lamb. Her last sentence 
only will I mention. Near the close she exclaimed 
with both cold hands uplifted : * Glory ! glory ! glory ! 
I see the angels !' after this only the word * glory/ 
faintly uttered could be heard." 

The last public religious service of this dear Friend 
was at Windham, Maine, during a general meeting held 
there. Of this last visit a Friend who was present 
writes : 

" First day evening, nth mo. 3d, 1873, to a crowded 
house she preached for half an hour from the text, * If 
I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? 
Follow thou me.' As the meeting was to close, she 
stood and most impressively repeated a farewell hymn, 
dwelling upon the lines, ' Farewell, poor sinner.' Paus- 
ing, she three times repeated these lines. None of us 
ever listened to a voice of such melod)^: it is inde- 
scribable — so solemn the message, so full of entreaty 
the tone. 

" Her husband attended meeting at Deering on Fourth 
day following, but she remained in the house. Her mes- 
sages to individuals in our neighborhood are treasured 
as coming from one so near the border as to be freighted 
with heavenly sanctity. 

" From report of quarterly meeting committee I quote: 
* We cannot close this report and do justice to appoint- 
ment and the precious memory of Sybil Jones (since 
gone to the eternal rest) without referring to her attend- 
ance at the general meeting in company with her hus- 
band. It was a great blessing to us to be recipients of 
this closing labor of her peculiarly devoted life. Many 
can bear witness to the heavenly expression of her 



284 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

countenance, her calmness, earnestness, yet tenderness 
of spirit, and the unusual unction which attended her 
ministrations as she pleaded with and for the erring and 
labored to restore the waste places of our Zion." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ALONE AT HOME. 

" Nor blame I Death because he bare 
The use of virtue out of earth : 
I know translated human worth 
Will bloom to profit otherwhere." — In Memoriant. 

It need not be told, and it could not, how the loss 
ojf his wife affected Eli Jones, already venerable with 
age. Those only who have borne a like sorrow 
know the depth of the wound. The strength of his 
character and the weight of his love were never shown 
more fully than in the first years of his widowed life. 
War had taken his first-born, his sons were at their 
work in the world, his eldest daughter was married, 
and the youngest daughter alone was still with him. 
Though sixty-six years of age, he was yet strong, and 
knew that much more work was before him if his life 
should be spared. There was no time given him to 
rest. Not his to question the ways of Providence, but 
to work while the day lasted. He could turn his face 
to no field where he was not reminded of her who had 
cfiligently stood by his side, and his loneliness gave a 
new power to his words. As Tennyson of his de- 
parted friend, he could say: 

" Far off thou art, but ever nigh ; 
I have thee still, and I rejoice ; 

285 



286 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

I prosper circled by thy voice ; 
I shall not lose thee though I die." 

For the first few years after the separation he was 
generally engaged near home. The duties of farm- 
work filled up the spaces between the monthly, quar- 
terly, and general meetings which he attended. The 
little black horse that all his townsmen knew so well 
grew very familiar with the winding roads to Vassal- 
boro', Brooks, St. Albans, Manchester, and other near- 
lying towns. " Uncle Eli has come" made all who had 
gathered at the meeting-house rejoice, and, whether 
the subject was peace, temperance, or salvation, he 
spoke strong words to stir the listeners. 

During all his life he has loved to till the soil ; trees 
seem to be near friends of his. Lowell is 

"Midway to believe 
A tree among his far progenitors, 
Such sympathy is his with all the race." 

Eli Jones hardly claims relationship with the birches, 
but they are his close friends, and he has had many 
happy hours working among his trees. Perhaps he 
never was a farmer such as the editors of agricultural 
journals would extol, and it is certain that the hilly 
fields, with here and there a ledge of rock, in his farm 
at Dirigo would never have allowed him to accumulate 
wealth, even if his work had been exclusively there ; 
but he felt the nobility of the calling. There was no 
yoke of bondage to the soil over him, and he got 
nearer Nature's heart as he planted, as he dug, and as 
he harvested. Those who exhort to a higher spiritual 
life can never know too much of the mysteries of animal 



ALONE AT HOME. 28/ 

and plant life ; they can never be too conversant with 
the trials and pains which daily toil brings to those to 
whom they preach. Paul could touch hearts when he 
appealed to tentmakers ; Peter had an unwonted power 
when fishermen were before him ; and he who holds up 
hands hardened by hoe and spade will gladly be heard 
by those who have left the oxen in the furrow to listen 
to the gospel. Slavery to work narrows the mind, as 
any slavery does, but diligence in some business will 
never lessen the depth of a true Christian or weaken 
the influence of an endowed minister. Eli Jones has 
always been loved by all the animals in his house and 
barn, for there is true philosophy in the line, " For 
Mary loved the lamb, you know." His sheep would 
come from all corners of the pasture when he came 
to their feeding-place, and often he took his cane and 
walked out to give them salt and to learn their ways. 
Sheep that are loved grow best, and his flock was proof 
of it. After work he sat under one of the large maples 
near the house, and while resting, if alone, carefully 
studied the higher and lower laws of the birds over his 
head and the insects at his feet. I do not believe he 
ever knowingly stepped on a worm or beetle, and no 
life of any kind was ever willingly destroyed by him. 
He could mow on Fifth day until time for meeting, and 
then hay-making, and the possibility of showers were 
out of the realm of his thought, for there was a higher 
work which needed an undivided mind. 

Nothing inanimate has interested him more than fos- 
sils and geological specimens. He made a large col- 
lection of them, and whenever an unusual stone showed 
itself under his hoe, it was examined. The perfection 



288 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

of the minute shells, and consequently of the long- 
dead animals that once dwelt in them, deeply im- 
pressed him. The variety of trees and flowers which 
were growing in his garden and grounds astonished 
those who were acquainted only with the birches, 
beeches, maples, pines, hemlocks, the ordinary growth 
of the Maine woods ; but he was delighted to see 
trees of other climes flourish in the hard Northern 
soil of his fields. His apples, pears, and grapes have 
reached the heart of many a boy who has wondered 
why his father has always lived contented with " Bitter 
Sweets " when " Early Harvests " are so good and easy 
to raise ; and an invitation to spend a day in this garden 
of the Hesperides was not soon to be forgotten ; and 
in fact it was a day of growth in the boy's better 
nature. 

There was something still more gratifying than such 
an invitation : it was to sit in the " South Meeting- 
house " when " little David " or Samuel or Joseph was 
the text. Others might instruct the heads of the 
meeting, but little eyes, sometimes heavy with sleep, 
opened and grew larger as the shepherd on the hills 
of Bethlehem had his arm nerved by the strength of 
the Lord or as Samuel cried, " Speak, Lord, for thy 
servant heareth." He drew pictures of those far-off 
scenes until a panorama seemed unrolled and young 
and old saw the mighty characters of the early dispen- 
sation working before them ; and it was not long before 
a new light came over those same hills and new songs 
filled the air : " Rejoice, for unto you is born, this day, 
in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the 
Lord." 



ALONE AT HOME. 289 

During these days of farm-life Eli was often chosen 
to fill the different town offices. As " supervisor of 
schools " he used to hear the geography lessons and 
make the map look so large and real that the scholars 
felt that it in fact represented solid earth. Then he 
was sure to ask the whole school some question 
which would start a train of new thoughts, and he 
was not likely to leave the school-house without 
setting forth in a novel way the need of learning 
how to spell and the mistake of trying greater fields 
of work before this one was conquered. 

It was in the " town-meeting — the old " New Eng- 
land town-meeting " — that he showed his peculiar tact 
and strength. The men of the town were there to 
settle the knotty question of " new roads," " improved 
schools," "care of the poor," and a long list of sim- 
ilar points. It is always a question with boys " how 
they make Presidents," and it is no less so how they 
make " selectmen and supervisors ;" and on these great 
days young statesmen were being taught there. The 
speakers for and against the different articles in the 
" warrant," stood up on benches and spoke. A mod- 
erator was appointed who kept order and decided 
difficult points. The younger, non-voters, were sur- 
prised to hear such eloquence and to see such weighty 
matters handled by men whom they knew only as 
great woodcutters or haymakers ; but it really seemed 
to them that another Demosthenes must be in the 
midst of them when Eli Jones began to argue down 
the weak schemes and prop up the wise plans for 
public improvement. At least one listener remem- 
bers how one important point was settled. The ques- 

19 



290 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

tion had been discussed whether the town should pay 
up its " war debt " and by taking on itself a double 
tax for one year throw off the burden of a heavy tax 
each year to pay interest-money. It had been decided 
affirmatively, but after the meeting was over and the 
citizens had gone home and talked with their wives, 
it began to seem to many that too great a step had 
been taken, and a call was issued for a new meeting 
to rescind the vote. There was much feeling, and the 
signs of a strongly divided camp were evident. The 
stir indicated that the question was momentous. A 
plain but strong argument was given to rescind the 
vote on the ground that it would be wiser to divide 
the amount and take a number of years to pay it than 
to impoverish the poor farmers by forcing such a tax 
upon them at one time. It may have been because 
the writer was very young and impressible, but the 
reply seemed to him masterly and worthy of a much 
greater occasion. Not a word was lost; the answer 
was brief, and its burden was that it was time to be 
free from the stigma of this debt, which either those 
present or their children must pay, and that if every 
citizen would play the man and do his duty now the 
debt would be blotted out, and easily. A vote was 
taken, and by a large majority it was agreed to leave 
the next generation free from debt by paying it at 
once ; which was done. 

The work of a man for the bettering of his own 
town is not unimportant, though it may seem so when 
we consider the greater fields of usefulness. He who 
has roused his neighbors and helped them find a better 
way of educating their sons and daughters has accom- 



ALONE AT HOME. 29 1 

plished a work of immense importance. If all the 
towns and villages were taken care of, the State would 
soon rest on a sure foundation, and he is a skilful 
physician who labors to heal the troubles in the towns 
which supply life to the cities. Eli Jones has always 
said that the great aim must ever be to get the indi- 
vidual home in a proper condition. It is not possible 
to show how much he quietly did in the years he spent 
at Dirigo, but certainly it was time well used, and we 
need not lament that he was " hemmed in" by county 
lines. What he did is poorly and briefly recorded 
here, but it is written imperishably somewhere, not 
infrequently on the impressible hearts of men. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

LATER VISITS TO THE EAST. 

The later visits of Eli Jones to Palestine and their 
object have already been spoken of. With an accurate 
knowledge of the land and its customs, as well as of 
the needs of its people, he was especially adapted to 
taking a .prominent part in directing the work of edu- 
cation there. He has always had a faculty for raising 
funds, and, having been especially successful in gather- 
ing money for building and necessary expenses, the 
time seemed to have come for opening a boy's train- 
ing-home on Mount Lebanon. It had seemed best to 
organize a meeting of the Society of Friends at Brum- 
mana, so that he went in 1876 to assist in person the 
accomplishment of these two designs. 

He sailed alone to Liverpool, and then with Alfred 
Lloyd Fox, who had accompanied him on his first 
visit, and Henry Newman, proceeded to Beirut, and 
thence to Brummana. 

They rode on horseback up Lebanon, and not far 
from Brummana beheld a most touching sight. The 
children of the school stood at a bend in the road, each 
carr}nng a bouquet of flowers, which they held aloft as 
their aged benefactor approached, and all these Synan 
maidens together gave their greeting in English : 
" Welcome, our dear friends !" This simple, sincere 

292 



LATER VISITS TO THE EAST. 293 

manifestation of affection deeply impressed the vener- 
able messenger of Christ and cheered his heart. It 
was like the loving welcome from his own children 
upon nearing his own home. 

A winter of work was passed pleasantly at the mis- 
sion and among the natives. In company with The- 
ophilus Waldmeier, the American and English messen- 
gers visited Rustin Pasha, the governor of Lebanon, 
who not only received them courteously and gave them 
much assistance, but has ever shown himself a good 
friend of the Friends' mission. 

Eli Jones has had the good fortune to win the favor 
of those high in authority, and he has used well his 
opportunities to impress the dignitaries of those lands. 
On the way from Joppa to Jerusalem he was in the 
same hotel with the governor of Palestine. The latter, 
hearing that a missionary of the Society of Friends was 
in the house, wished to see him. They met and talked 
together as friends. The governor showed himself a 
man of wide culture and liberal views, believing in the 
elevation of woman as a potent means of civilization, 
his own daughters being students of science and liter- 
ature. He had a clear conception of American civil- 
ization, and understood the position and history of 
Friends, showing much interest in their work at 
Ramallah. As they parted he asked with much feeling 
that his aged American friend would pray for him and 
Palestine. 

Again, in 1882, Eli Jones sailed for England on his 
way to the Holy Land, to be present at the opening 
of the girls' training-home and to obtain a legal trans- 
ference of the mission to the Society of Friends. 



294 ^^^ ^^'^ SYBIL JONES. 

Charles M. Jones of Winthrop, Me., was his valu- 
able companion. They were met in Liverpool by 
Alfred Fox, who, though not able to attend them on 
this journey, went as far as Marseilles to see them 
well on their way. They landed in Joppa, and soon 
after their arrival were invited by the Episcopalian 
clergyman to come to his house to meet and ad- 
dress a little company. They found a large number 
assembled, and Eli Jones was told that he might ad- 
dress them in English, with the assurance of being 
perfectly understood; so that here, in that ancient 
city where Peter was taught to regard as clean all 
cleansed by God, the walls of division were again 
taken down and a minister of the Quakers preached 
the gospel in the English language to an assembly of 
Episcopalians. 

On landing at Beirut they visited the American 
school in that city, and were asked to address the 
scholars, which they did. After the exercises were 
over the lady in charge of the school, finding from 
their conversation that they were Friends, said with 
much surprise, " I thought you were Presbyterians." 
They were warmly welcomed at the Mount Lebanon 
Mission-school, and were occupied there and at the 
Ramallah mission until the spring of 1883. 

On their return, Alfred Fox stood on the wharf at 
Marseilles to greet them. He did not leave them until 
their steamer sailed from Liverpool, and there waved 
them a long farewell. His death not long after re- 
moved from this world a grand Christian gentleman, 
the dearest friend of Eli Jones's later life. 

The fourth journey of the latter to Palestine sue- 



LATER VISITS TO THE EAST. 2gS 

cessfully accomplished, the faithful servant of God 
returned to the faaiiliar scenes of his own home, not 
to seek the rest of one who puts the armor off, but to 
spend the last years which God's goodness had given 
him in declaring with the zeal of vigorous manhood 
the business of soldiers commissioned by the Prince 
of peace. Each year which puts its weight upon him 
lessens the probability of his re-seeing Lebanon and 
Jerusalem, but no spot except that which eighty years 
have made almost sacred to him as home has so many 
memories and attractions touching his heart. When 
he went from home bowed with age to undertake his 
last visit some one said, " I fear thou wilt never come 
back to us." He replied, " Lebanon's top is as near 
heaven as my native China is." 

He has twice visited the missions in person, and each 
time found work for three or four months. He has 
always been greatly loved by those for whom the work 
is being done. Being asked once the reason for his 
success with these Arabs, he replied, " Because I am 
of the people. I go down to their condition, but do 
not stay there ; I endeavor to bring them up." They 
are very strong in their affections, and dislikes as well, 
and they are exceedingly keen to see their real bene- 
factors. Eli Jones experiences his greatest pleasure 
taking these children around him and teaching them 
in his characteristic way, while they love him as a good 
father. In the answers to his questions he was often 
surprised by the originality of the little pupils. One 
day as he was talking to a class of girls he asked where 
the Jordan rises ; immediately came the answer. Again, 
"Where does it end?"—" In the Dead Sea." "And what 



296 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. . 

becomes of the water, as the Dead Sea has no outlet ?" ^ 
There was a lon^ silence, when a little Arab ^irl re- 
plied, in a simple, beautiful metaphor, " The sun drinks 
it up." On one occasion he found the children sitting 
on the floor to be taught; he at once ordered seats 
for the room, though he was told they would not use 
them. He replied, " We will see ; if you get them 
from the floor upon good seats, you have raised them 
so much from their low condition." When he next 
went to the room he found them proudly sitting on 
their new seats. One little girl who could speak Eng- 
lish came over by his side and said, " We thank you 
for these seats." When he was about to come back 
and to separate from them they stood round him with 
tears in their eyes to wave him a farewell. 

The questions are often asked, " Is the gain worth 
the cost ? Does the improvement correspond to the 
outlay and effort ?" There is but one answer. These 
Druse boys and girls are eager to be taught, not only 
to read and write, but to understand the story and 
teachings of Christ. They go from the school en- 
tirely different persons, and they are wholly unwilling 
to go back to their unchristian manners of life. They 
are capable of becoming good scholars, and many of 
them are ready to teach others. The character of 
the natives around Mount Lebanon has completely 
changed, while those being trained are now in a con- 
dition to exert an elevating influence on those about 
them. 

Mission-work, like all other work, must consent to 
be tested by its fruits. The work of Friends on Leb- 
anon and at Ramallah will stand this test well. 



LATER VISITS TO THE EAST. 297 

In a letter to his friend S. F. T., Eli Jones writes to 
express his feeling of loneliness without his wonted 
companion, and the nature of the work being done in 
the Holy Land at the time of his third visit there in 
1876: 

Brummana, 1st mo. 8, 1876. 

While my fellow-travellers and Th. Waldmeier have 
gone to a distant village to attend to matters of busi- 
ness, I have been left to my own reflections, and I 
have in an unusual manner missed the sympathy and 
the words of cheer in times of trial that I was sure to 
receive from her who has been called up higher before 
me. Her words were as balm to my troubled breast, 
but now I plod on alone. My life would be too sad 
and weary to be borne did I not trust that an Eye 
of compassion beholds me here even as when in my 
native land surrounded by loved friends. 

We left England on the 9th of nth mo., and spent 
several days in France attending ten meetings in that 
country ; then embarking at Marseilles for Alexandria, 
where we spent a few days meeting old acquaintances 
and attending to what seemed called for. Again we 
went on board ship, and next day came to Port Said 
at the mouth of the Suez Canal, the morning after we 
were in Joppa. Here we visited the institution under 
the instruction of Jane Arnot, a woman oi great faith 
and of much woi'ks, who has a school of sixty girls. 
We found her occupying a new house erected on the 
very spot where our tent was pitched a few years ago, 
and where we had a meeting one First day afternoon 
with the people of Joppa. 



298 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 



t 



We reached Beirut the 31st of 12th mo., and the 
next day came to Brummana, where we received a warm 
welcome. Hanne Ferach, my little Bethlehem girl, 
rushed forward and grasped the hand of her old 
friend with the cordiality of a loving daughter ; also 
several of the citizens came to bid us welcome to 
their town. All this was unexpected, and, to speak 
honestly, it moved our hearts and was a delightful 
ending of a long journey. 

We are much pleased with the work begun here. 
On First day our meeting frequently numbers over one 
hundred, the Bible meeting in the middle of the week 
over thirty. 

In the room where I am setting a teachers' meeting 
is going forward preparatory to the labors to-morrow, 
which will be the first of the week. Sitting around 
the table are ten preachers and teachers ; two of these 
are female. Their conversation is all Greek to me, 
but it is very interesting to see them arming for their 
work from such an armory. 

The Sabbath-school numbers sixty, while there are 
six schools in operation through the week, reaching at 
least two hundred and thirty children ; all these are 
emphatically Bible-schools. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

AS A FRIEND. 

" Be ye complete in Him." 

" God's own hand must lay the axe of inward crucifixion unsparingly 
at the root of the natural life ; God in Christ, operating in the person 
of the Holy Ghost, must be the principle of inward inspiration moment 
by moment, the crucifier of every wrong desire and purpose, the Au- 
thor of every right and holy purpose, the Light and Life of the 
soul." — Upham. 

Eli Jones was a birthright member of the Society 
of Friends, and as far back as there is any record the 
family had been a Friends' family, so that he inherited 
an inclination to the manners and views of the Society ; 
and it was as much expected of him that he would 
make these views his own as it was that he would be a 
worthy son of his parents and grandparents. Quakerism 
was the air which a Friend's child breathed seventy- 
five years ago, and it was a poor child that longed for 
another atmosphere. It was a startling revelation to a 
boy that there were people in the world who said you 
to one person, and it required an explanation. 

Eli had little opportunity of reading the lives of the 
Friends of former times, and he had no way of finding 
out the " philosophy of Quakerism," but his father 
and mother and the whole circle of his connections 
had a definite idea of what they believed, and their lives 

299 



300 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

were more teaching than many books would have been. 
The different meetings were regularly attended by the 
young members, and they early became accustomed to 
the ways of doing the necessary business. He learned 
to respect the body which transacted its business so 
quietly and orderly, and which had such a loving and 
successful plan for reaching the state and standing of 
the different members. 

The monthly readings of the " Queries" placed each 
soul in the silent confessional before its Lord, while 
the general " Answers" gave opportunity for efficient 
counsel. It was a living Church, and its light shone 
before men. There were excellent examples of pure 
Christian character in the Society at China — ministers, 
elders, and members who would deeply impress the 
young, who thought of no other course than follow- 
ing in the steps of their predecessors. The quiet 
strength and sweetness of the best members of the 
Society, their guilelessness and sincerity, have had 
great weight in holding young men, and have done 
what austere teaching could never have done. The 
call to confess Christ, as they proclaimed it, was also 
a call to a higher manhood and nobler living. 

Eli Jones early loved Friends, and his love has con- 
tinually augmented. He has done his work in the 
Society, going out on his own various missions each 
time with its sanction ; and he has experienced fully 
the help which comes from the united and loving sup- 
port of the Church at home. His life has been widely 
useful in great measure because he was a Friend, for 
the work he has done could properly have been done 
only in Friends' way, and he could never have sue- 



AS A FRIEND. 3OI 

ceeded under the restrictions of any other church 
organization. He was qualified to be a Friend minister, 
but he was not adapted to be one of any other denom- 
ination. 

About forty years ago, as he was beginning to preach, 
there appeared in New England a new phase of thought. 
Its centre was at Concord, Mass., and its adherents were 
called Traitscetidentalists. They held, among other 
things, that to really know man must have something 
in him which transcends human knowledge or the 
knowledge of the senses. In order to know truth a light 
must shine into man's mind from the Source of light, 
and who ever would know himself, the world and the 
Supreme Being must have a God-given teacher in his 
own breast ; but these men maintained that this was a 
natural endowment of the human mind — a wonderful 
gift, but given in the same way as memory. The differ- 
ence between Transcendentalism and Quakerism has 
been thought slight; it is, however, immense. The 
Society of Friends has never believed .that man by 
nature has any power or light within him capable of 
satisfying his longings or of gaining salvation "for his 
soul. While Friends do not lose sight of the facts 
that Christ the Son of God came to be a perfect 
ensample for us; that He came to give us life, and 
to give it more abundantly ; that He is the Light 
of the world; that the true follower of Christ should 
strive to be Christ-like, to come up to "the full 
stature of Christ;" and that there can be no compro- 
mise with any sin, but a gradual growth in firm cha- 
racter, high manliness, a daily striving for sincerity 
and purity, — their great theme for the comfort of a lost 



302 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

world has been that there is life in the acceptance of 
Christ ; that there is health through our abiding union 
in Him, and thenceforth growth and development by 
virtue of our oneness with Him whose blood cleanses 
and whose Spirit quickens. Manliness and high mo- 
rality, necessary graces of the Christian, have been at- 
tainable by all nations and all ages to a higher or lower 
degree, '^yesiis Christ came into the world to save sinners^' 
and all men of every degree are there included. Felt 
necessary in all ages, foretold in types and by inspired 
prophets, and heralded by messengers from heaven, at 
length, in the fulness of time, the Saviour came. He 
came not to bring a creed or bonds or forms : He came 
to bring salvation, freedom, spirituality. He came to 
publish a new kingdom, which could be entered only 
through Him. He finished His work fully, and, about 
to depart, He promised to " pray the Father, and he 
shall give you another comforter (strengthener), that 
He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of 
truth ; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth 
Him not, neither knoweth Him : but ye know Him ; 
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you ;" having 
said before, " Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that 
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also ; 
and greater works shall he do ; because I go unto my 
Father; " " Howbeit, when the Spirit of truth is come. 
He will guide you into all the truth ; " " That was the 
true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into 
the world." Whoever believes the truth of the gospel 
record to its fullest extent, and actually accepts salva- 
tion through Christ, becomes not only a better man, 
but a new man; he will live henceforth not for this 



AS A FRIEND. 3O3 

world, but for that which is to come ; he will conquer 
and throw aside all his besetting sins ; and he will be 
a " living epistle" publishing the greatness of the good 
news to all others : furthermore, no work for his Lord 
will seem to be too great to be undertken, for the 
promise is, " greater things shall ye do ; for I go unto 
my Father." 

Now, Eli Jones while a young man accepted his 
Saviour and experienced this new birth, and, seeking 
first the kingdom of God, he has not ceased to labor 
for the greatest possible bettering of the world. This, 
he beheved, could be best done by spreading a know- 
ledge of Christ and by endeavoring to bring about a 
literal fulfilment of His teaching. Christ, the source 
of life, the source of light, and a perfect example to 
be followed, has been his theme. Peace, total absti- 
nence, and high education came in course as proper 
causes for him to uphold. He has always believed 
in supreme guidance, and before undertaking work has 
waited until the inward ear heard the voice, and so his 
going forth has been blessed. His whole life testifies 
that he has not deceived himself, and that he has not 
worked for his own material gain. He has always 
stood against formalism and spoken for spirituality, 
and he has wished for life to so abound that for- 
mality in any way could not exist. He has felt 
that all Christ's devoted followers must in some way, 
by life or voice, obey the command given to the 
first apostles : " Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature ;" and the message which 
he has carried has always been, " Ye must be born 
again." The equality of man and woman and the 



304 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

equality of all men and all women, equality of worth 
before the Creator, has made him earnest to gain for 
woman her real rights, and he has felt the necessity 
of raising in the social scale all who have been bound 
down in any degree by the bonds of prejudice. 

Points of doctrine have been little discussed by him, 
for he has felt called to live and preach the gospel, the 
same tidings which Paul went to Macedonia to declare 
— not to discuss and argue in regard to questions which 
can be settled only when we enter " the land which is 
very far off" There are some things which must be 
clearly fixed, great cardinal truths on which to be 
wrong is to be wholly wrong; but a broad spiritual 
interpretation of the whole Bible, by the aid of the 
Holy Spirit, gives any seeking man enough teaching 
on necessary points to guide him; and Eli Jones has 
gladly received in addition all the help he could re- 
ceive from the wisdom given to other men and women, 
such as fathers, counsellors, and elders. 

Penn asked, " How shall I know that a man does 
not obtrude his own sense upon us as the infallible 
Spirit?" and he answers, "By the same Spirit." What- 
ever is said contrary to the Scriptures, though the 
guidance of the Spirit is professed, must be accounted 
a delusion.* No man regrets more than Eli Jones that 
there are those who speak their own words as the truth 
given to them, for words become lifeless whenever the 
brain is allowed to speak for the Spirit, whenever any 
one deceives himself and gives his own thoughts for 
oracles ; and he has felt that Friends, of all people, 
should beware of self-love and self-will, and that the 

* New England Discipline, p. 14. 



AS A FRIEND. 30 5 

individual members should ever be ready to receive 
benefit fi-om the counsel of others. Each human being 
has a special field to till in the great vineyard. He who 
has climbed a height is more than ever duty bound to 
reach down hands of help to the weak. The gifts differ, 
but it is every man's business to find out for what he 
was sent, and then do the mission — do it " ever in the 
great Taskmaster's eye ;" do it for no reward, but for 
the truth's sake ; and He who sends the workmen into 
the field will send the basket for their supply. Whether 
doing quiet work at home or more extensive work 
abroad, Eli Jones has had one mind — to obey orders ; 
and whenever he has been free to do temporal work 
for his own support and for his aid in gospel work, 
he has improved every opportunity, imitating the 
example of the tentmaker, while Friends have gen- 
erously furnished the means for him to go out into 
distant fields. 

He has lived to see a decided change come over the 
Society in his own section — a change almost universally 
apparent. In his early manhood came the great sepa- 
ration of the " Hicksites," and he felt keenly the want 
of harmony in 1840-45, when John Wilber opposed 
Joseph John Gurney ; but he has ever hoped that the 
small body of spiritually-minded Friends would hold 
fast to their faith, maintaining harmony throughout, 
and not provoking or exaggerating differences of 
opinion. Most who grew old with him have passed 
away, and some with the belief which saddened their 
old age that the end of their Society was near. He 
has continually — and never more than in his old age — 
believed in the progress of humanity ; he has seen in 

20 



306 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

history and in his own Hfe how one generation carries 
on the truth rejected by the former one ; and in his 
thoughts faith and hope have been united. He trusts 
that in God's plan there is endless progress, and until 
something higher and purer and more perfect than 
Friends' conception of Christ's work and teaching 
appears the Society will be needed, and there will 
not be wanting those who hold fast the excellent 
spiritual truths of Quakerism, and a practical Chris- 
tianity lived out with daily circumspection in their 
thoughts and words and deeds. He is impressed, 
as were the founders of our Society, with the truth 
that Christianity is both a faith and a corresponding 
life. The words of his old age have been not less 
acceptable and effective than those of his early man- 
hood, and he has not changed his message. The 
earnestness with which he has pleaded for the essen- 
tials, the liberality he has shown in regard to non- 
essentials, and the rounded completeness of his life 
have given him a wide influence and have made 
him justly loved; but his strength has always been 
his calm faith in Jesus Christ. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

HIS PLACE AS A WORKER. 
" Quit you like men." 

The people of a city or country in which is some 
great natural wonder or some magnificent work of man 
become so accustomed to its grandeur that only the 
largest- minded of them continue to appreciate its ex- 
cellence and gain culture from it. This is not true of 
men. A man who has the qualifications to instruct and 
the power to inspire his deemsmen will have renewed 
power, and will gain a stronger influence over all of 
them, as age brings matured wisdom. Few greater 
blessings can come to a community than to have a 
strong man working like leaven in the midst of it, and 
few posts of honor are more to be coveted than to be 
a part of all that is best in one's environment. 

Eli Jones has decidedly influenced his township, and 
he has the satisfaction of feeling in his old age that he 
is without enemies and in possession of a numerous 
company of friends, the " uncle " of all who know 
him. He has had the good fortune — or, better, the 
good judgment — to know just what his place was. 
He has done each duty, never wishing that he might 
have found something greater to do, and now his ser- 
vices combined into one whole make a record which 
men of great fame often fail to gain. 

307 



308 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

One of the best tests of a man's power is his in- 
fluence over the young. There is a time in early life 
when there is a longing for real help, when a young 
person feels groping in the dark for the right road, 
which he wants, but cannot find. Eli Jones has been 
at hand to throw, by his counsel and Christian advice, 
light on the right path, and many a man and woman 
stands to-day fixed firmly in a good place and on a 
high road to a better because he spoke a good word 
or reached out his hand when there was need of 
just that word or encouragement. 

His love of education and his fondness for books 
have made themselves felt. He has been one of the 
foremost in founding and sustaining two schools — 
" Oak Grove Seminary " and the " Erskine High 
School." The latter partly owed its existence to 
him. He has started and built up a number of libra- 
ries, and he has wished to leave coming sons and 
daughters supplied with a fountain from which to 
draw. Not a few of the college graduates who have 
gone out from China received their first impulses to 
higher aspirations from him, in one way or another. 

In temperance work he has taken his part. He 
began to speak for total abstinence as a boy, which 
has been his theme ever since, and he took active part 
in securing a majority for the Prohibition amendment 
in the State of Maine. 

For many years he was an active member of the 
" Sons of Temperance," and as Grand Worthy Pa- 
triarch of that organization he did much permanent 
good in the State. In this work he was intimately 
associated with Ex-Governor Sidney Perham, Neal 



HIS PLACE AS A WORKER. 3O9 

Dow, John Kimbal of Bangor, D. B. Randal, the 
aged patriarch of the Methodist Church, and others 
of the ablest advocates of the Maine law. 

It was once a law of the State that the selectmen 
of each town should appoint some suitable man to 
fill his cellar with various liquors, and whose sole 
right it should be to sell such articles. For one year 
Eli Jones was appointed to act as liquor-agent for 
the town. Strange picture, that of a well-known 
Quaker minister and prominent advocate of total 
abstinence holding the office of drink-dispenser to 
his townsmen! It can be imagined with what feel- 
ings the toper would enter his yard, make known 
his desire, and what words of advice he would re- 
ceive instead of the foaming glass. 

It is needless to say that no cellar was stored that 
year, and during his term of office the community 
abstained. 

In 1852, at the time of his first visit to England and 
Ireland, but few Friends in those countries had heartily 
espoused the cause of total abstinence. Since that time 
a great change has taken place. " To hail from Maine 
is now no discredit to the visitor. Then a specimen 
from Maine was looked upon with some distrust." 

It will not be out of place to refer here to his con- 
nection with the origin of the " United Kingdom Al- 
liance." Its essential declarations are as follows : " i. 
That it is neither right nor politic for the state to afford 
legal protection and sanction to any traffic or system 
which tends to increase crime, to waste the national 
resources, to corrupt the social habits, and to destroy 
the health and lives of the people. 2. That the traffic 



310 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

in intoxicating liquors, as common beverages, is inim- 
ical to the true interests of individuals and destructive 
of the order and welfare of society, and ought there- 
fore to be prohibited. 3. That the history and results 
of all past legislation in regard to the liquor traffic 
abundantly prove that it is impossible satisfactorily 
to limit or regulate a system so essentially mischiev- 
ous in its tendencies. ... 7. That, rising above class, 
sectarian, or party considerations, all good citizens 
should combine to procure an enactment prohibiting 
the sale of intoxicating beverages, as affording most 
efficient aid in removing the appalling evil of intem- 
perance." 

This was a union against intemperance on a most 
uncompromising platform, and its work during the 
last quarter of a century has been enormous. The 
simple facts of Eli Jones's connection with this or- 
ganization are as follows : As he was returning from 
Dublin yearly meeting to London he found himself 
in company with Nathaniel Card, a Friend of Man- 
chester, England. Their conversation turned upon 
temperance, for our friend had not been silent on 
this subject during his stay in Ireland. Nathaniel 
Card became much interested, and wished to take 
an American temperance paper, as well as to have a 
copy of the Maine prohibitory law. He was given 
the address of Neal Dow, and a correspondence was 
opened. About eighteen months after this conver- 
sation, Eli Jones being in Manchester, three gentle- 
men called on him. Nathaniel Card was one of 
them, who as speaker said, " We are the officers of 
the British and Foreign Temperance Alliance, and 



HIS PLACE AS A WORKER. 3II 

whatever results come from its formation began with 
our conversation on our return journey from Ire- 
land." 

Many English Friends have been connected with 
this organization, and Eli Jones had the opportunity 
at the time of his later visits to England to attend 
some of the meetings and to hear the beneficent re- 
sults of its far-reaching influence. 

His work for the advancement of peace has been 
lifelong. He has strained his eyes to catch glimpses 
of a better era, in which the literal and spiritual teach- 
ing of Christ shall be fulfilled in a universal brother- 
hood of men and nations ; and he has lived to see 
already " a flood of prophesying light." When over 
eighty years old he was sent as a delegate to the 
Friends' Peace Conference at Richmond, Indiana, in 
1887, and his voice was often heard discussing with 
younger men and women the wisest course for bind- 
ing nations into families by bonds of love, so that 
rust may dull the carnal weapons of war, 

" And the cobweb be woven across the cannon's throat, 
To shake its threaded tears in the wind." 

He has always looked with joy on the advance of 
the human race, and he has had uncompromising faith 
in actual and triumphant progress. Nothing has made 
his crowning years more bright than the thought, ever 
present with him, that the good is gaining a gradual 
ascendency, and that man's lot, already a happy one, 
is becoming more happy. He has seen nations that 
have sat in darkness rising to stand in the joy -bringing 



312 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

light, and he has trusted the future will bring mature 
fruit. This buoyant hope has not only made his life 
joyous, but has pervaded all the messages of his later 
years, and he has shown that optimism which every 
true Christian must feel, for his Master " doeth all 
things well." 

He felt called above everything else to preach the 
gospel, but he was sent to preach not only from the 
text which John the Baptist gave, but also he has 
"spoken unto men to edification." He has held up 
the perfect mark, the goal, " a life hid with Christ in 
God." Every power of man, physical, moral, mental, 
spiritual, is to be developed and expanded to its fullest 
extent, and then brought into strict obedience to the 
will of God. We are not in our place until we yield 
the same obedience to the celestial laws that we yield 
to the laws of gravitation. Character — which implies 
integrity, purity, unselfishness, love, patience, self-for- 
getfulness, and temperance — means the truth we have 
received, made our own, and put in action. Hence 
Eli Jones has spent his life telling all people to seek 
first of all the kingdom of heaven, which is righteous- 
ness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost — to give 
their whole lives and beings to the Lord, and to build 
up pure Christian characters. The strength and manli- 
ness of his life have made his messages weighty, and the 
clearness of his thought, with his abundance of strong 
English words forcibly arranged, has caused his speak- 
ing on whatever subject to be effective. His speaking 
has always been from the fulness of his heart and with 
all the energy of his individuality. Never has he been 
known to speak weakly or unemphatically. If he had 



HIS PLACE AS A WORKER. 313 

no message, he kept his seat, and if he rose to speak 
it was because he had something which he deeply felt 
and which it was important for those present to hear. 

Of medium height, possessing a very large head, 
penetrating, earnest eyes, and impressive in his move- 
ments, his rising always gained him attention. His 
voice, which in childhood had been imperfect, grew 
clearer and more emphatic with use, and by constant 
attention to careful enunciation he gained the power of 
distinct expression to such a degree that after having 
on one occasion found it necessary to speak contin- 
uously in the Newport meeting-house for three hours, 
he was told by those in the farthest galleries that not 
a word had been lost. In his most earnest appeals he 
is decidedly eloquent, and many there are who have 
heard in his vigorous words that call which lifts souls 
from dreamy thought to action. Not one of his ser- 
mons has been put on paper, for he spoke as the words 
came to his mouth, and reporters were not present ; 
but there was a clearness and connection as marked as 
was the strength of the individual parts, so that his 
utterances if printed would be highly valued. If those 
men do us the greatest service who give us the clearest 
view of our relation to God and our duty to man, then 
we owe him gratitude, for he successfully helped feet 
that were failing to find a surer foothold on the abid- 
ing base of the Rock of Ages. 

Further, he performed the true part of the citizen 
of a democracy, the part of one who sees the brother 
and sister mark on every forehead. Every person who 
hopes and prays for the highest success of the prin- 
ciples of our government will have moments of trial for 



314 ^LI AND SYBIL JONES. 

his faith as he sees the multitudes of responsible citizens 
who exercise their high privileges in town and State 
moved by no higher thought than the accomplishment 
of a selfish aim ; he will feel a deeper gloom still when 
he learns in how many hearts respect for pure men and 
sacred principles and reverence for the Ruler of men 
and nations have been obscured by the mists of party 
schemes and personal self-love. Eli Jones as a Quaker 
has clearly proclaimed the only basis on which a de- 
mocracy can build with a reasonable hope of a beau- 
tiful and permanent structure. In a nation where every 
man is a legislator, every man must 

" Feel within himself the need 
Of loyalty to better than himself. 
That shall ennoble him with the upward look ;" 

nor can he be a safe sharer in the rights of govern- 
ment who has not intimate converse with the Voice 
which calls for an inward look. Through a life of 
over eighty years he has sought to act at the ballot- 
box so that the largest number of human beings might 
feel the good effects of his vote. 

Again, his life is an interesting example of contin- 
uous development. Though beginning early to obey 
the voice of duty in regard to public speaking, he had 
reached nearly the age of forty before he was really at 
work. Year after year since he has seen with clearer 
vision, and, catching the teaching of the nautilus, he 
has made 

" Each new temple, nobler than the last, 
Shut him from heaven with a dome more vast," 



HIS PLACE AS A WORKER. 315 

and, feeling more truly each year the serious business 
of a denizen of earth, he has doubled his diligence to 
quit himself like a man. 

There has been a deep vein of humor running 
through his whole life, and the genuine " mother 
wit " often found in New Englanders has shown itself 
in him to a marked degree. His answers to difficult 
questions always come at once, and have a keenness 
which goes to the marrow of the subject. Those who 
have listened to his conversation and heard his illus- 
trative anecdotes need no example to call to their, mind 
his native humor, for it has continually shown itself. 
The uniformity of his disposition should be spoken of. 
Calm and equable under trying circumstances, he was 
a strong support to his beloved wife when in feeble 
health she seemed almost weighed down, and he was 
especially fitted by this quality for the perplexing dif- 
ficulties which necessarily beset a laborer in foreign 
lands. 

His ripe years have been passed at the foot of China 
Lake near his boyhood's home, and he has sat in the 
meeting as a father in the midst of his family. Now 
and then called forth for short service, he has loved to 
hasten back and to be at home. 

At the time I write he is still permitted to dwell 
among us, and we are fortunate in having before our 
eyes one who has the weight of many years of ex- 
perience and wisdom. 

When riding with him around China Lake one lovely 
summer day some of us younger members of the party 
pointed out a church-spire in the distance, and asked 
him if it was not a beautiful picture — the spire rising 



3l6 ELI AND SYBIL JONES. 

from the abundant green of the surrounding trees and 
pointing to the cloudless blue sky. Slowly he said, 
" Yes, but it would be better if we knew that all who 
sit there owned what is above the spire ;" and we felt, 
as we looked at his genial face lighted up as he 
gazed aloft, that " his citizenship was in heaven " and 
that " for him to die " would be " gain." There is a 
domain on earth which only the true servant enters, 
and there is a realm of which we do not speak defi- 
nitely that opens its gates to admit those who hear the 
" Well done !" of the great Master. Blessed indeed is 
he whose life has been a preparation for the city where 
no sun is needed, but where the glory of God is the 
light, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. 



THE END. 



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